Airbus and the European Space Agency (ESA) have signed a contract to build part of the US Orion spaceship, in a deal worth an estimated €390m (£310m).
The European aircraft manufacturer will construct the rear section of the spacecraft, which will be responsible for storing survival essentials such as air and water as well as propelling the capsule into space.
The majority of the rear section by Airbus in Germany, with some smaller components produced elsewhere in Europe, with the European effort funded as part of the “barter agreement”. Under this deal, Europe will cover the cost of the Airbus-deveoped hardware for Orion, while the US will cover any costs Europe incurs at the International Space Station (ISS).
The main section of the capsule is being constructed by Lockheed Martin in the US.
The first phase of testing for Orion will be an unmanned flight scheduled for 2017, and if successful the spaceship will be used to transport humans to an asteroid and then to the surface of Mars, with the astronauts involved planned to be the first humans to set foot on another planet.
