Artemis Innovative Assembly and Integration Operations of the Launch Abort System at KSC

This paper describes the Artemis program assembly and integration approach that enables affordable and low risk processing operations for the Launch Abort System at KSC. NASA is currently developing the Artemis 1 spacecraft to meet the test objectives of an uncrewed orbital mission to the moon and return to earth in 2021. The Artemis Orion spacecraft consists of a Crew Module (CM), a Service Module (SM), and a Launch Abort System (LAS) to safely transport a crew of 4 to the moon and return to earth. The LAS enables the CM to have an abort capability for the crew during the launch phase of the mission from the launch pad throughout the ascent phase. The LAS includes motor elements for abort, attitude control, and stage separation is assembled at the Launch Abort System Facility (LASF) adjacent to the CM/SM (CSM) assembly operations in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building (O&C) at KSC. The LAS integration to the CSM is completed in the LASF and the completed Artemis spacecraft is integrated to the Space Launch System (SLS) in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at KSC. A significant LAS development flight test milestone was recently completed in 2019 for the Ascent Abort (AA-2) flight test at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station where a high-altitude abort test was successfully achieved using a Peacekeeper booster stage exercising all of the LAS systems including propulsion, avionics, and pyrotechnics demonstrating the LAS readiness for crewed flight. The first operational flight of the LAS will be for the Artemis 2 mission which is the first crewed mission for the Orion program planned in 2023.The LAS assembly and integration is performed at the launch site at KSC to enable seamless operations for the integration to the Artemis spacecraft and the SLS launch vehicle. The LAS abort, jettison, and attitude control motor assemblies are processed in a hazard operations environment in the LASF separate from the Artemis CSM spacecraft operations. Common use of CSM O&C assembly processes, equipment, and technician workforce are deployed to the LASF avoiding the need for stand-alone and dedicated operations reducing LAS processing costs and risks. The LAS assembly operations support systems reside in a contemporary digital environment documenting and managing the requirements, engineering drawings, production plans, and vehicle as-built configurations and are compatible with the NASA KSC integration environment. The LAS integration by the NASA Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) operations completes the integration to the SLS launch vehicle. Any LAS anomalous conditions are
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rapidly addressed using onsite EGS and Artemis technical support as required. The LAS processing at KSC enables a low risk and affordable assembly and integration approach for the Artemis program to support NASA Gateway missions of the future.