VSMPO-Avisma Corporation manufactured components for a test fuel tank of the European Service Module designed for NASA’s Orion program, the corporation’s press-service reports.

“Reservoirs, manufactured by Airbus Defense and Space, are delivered without their internal components, because only a shell ring of the reservoir filled with a test liquid is required in order to carry out testing. The major goal of these tests is to define, whether the components are able to withstand enormous loads, especially the ones applied during start. Lightness and known strength performance of titanium alloys bring hope that the testing of the fuel tank, which includes half-spheres manufactured by VSMPO-Avisma, will be successful,” said in the statement.

VSMPO-Avisma noted that the Exploration Mission-1 Orion spacecraft itself would be manufactured in USA at Lockheed Martin’s New Orleans plant. The service module, which is going to be manufactured in Bremen (Germany), will be responsible for controlling engines, maintaining temperature onboard the spacecraft and providing the crew with oxygen and water throughout the flight”.