{"id":1611,"date":"2026-04-20T12:36:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T12:36:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/simsbury-manufacturer-plays-critical-role-in-nasas-artemis-ii-crewed-lunar-mission\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T12:36:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T12:36:06","slug":"simsbury-manufacturer-plays-critical-role-in-nasas-artemis-ii-crewed-lunar-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/simsbury-manufacturer-plays-critical-role-in-nasas-artemis-ii-crewed-lunar-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"Simsbury Manufacturer Plays Critical Role in NASA\u2019s Artemis II Crewed Lunar Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Simsbury<\/p>\n

Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense (EBAD)<\/strong>, which employs approximately 500 people in Simsbury, CT and 300 in Moorpark, CA has designed, manufactured, and rigorously tested mission-critical hardware supporting NASA\u2019s Artemis II mission; the first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit in more than 50 years. Artemis II will carry four astronauts on a 10-day lunar flyby, travelling approximately 1.4 million miles before re-entering Earth\u2019s atmosphere at 24,500 mph. The mission will validate NASA\u2019s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft ahead of future lunar landings. <\/p>\n

EBAD provides Flight Termination System, initiation, and stage separation components on the SLS rocket, supporting Boeing and Northrop Grumman. The company also supplies critical separation hardware for Lockheed Martin\u2019s Orion spacecraft, including systems supporting the Crew Module, Launch Abort System, and Service Module. These systems execute essential events during launch and ascent and must perform with exact timing. Their performance is directly tied to mission success and astronaut safety.<\/p>\n

\n

Also Read: What is a Launch Vehicle?<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n

All Artemis II hardware was developed and qualified at EBAD\u2019s Simsbury facility. The company conducts in-house shock and vibration testing and validates performance in extreme environmental conditions, including severe heat and cold. Every component is tested, inspected, and verified to ensure it performs safely and works the first time. EBAD has supported the Artemis program since 2008 and previously contributed to the successful Artemis I mission. In 2024, representatives from NASA, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Boeing visited the Simsbury facility to recognise employees for their role in that historic flight. <\/p>\n

\u201cFrom right here in Connecticut, our employees are contributing to one of the most significant human spaceflight missions in decades. Artemis II represents progress, persistence, and partnership. We are proud to stand alongside NASA and our industry partners in enabling the next chapter of exploration,\u201d said Jennifer Lewis<\/strong>, President of EBAD<\/strong>. Approximately 50 employees at EBAD worked directly on Artemis II systems as part of the broader Simsbury team.<\/p>\n

\n

Also Read: What are the the Different Types of Launch Vehicles used in Space?<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cFor our employees, our customer missions are the reason we are here. Every customer\u2019s mission is critical, but there is something special about building and providing hardware for the first astronaut mission in over 50 years. Regardless of our extensive product heritage, our team spends a significant amount of time inspecting, testing, and verifying the hardware because it must work the first time,\u201d said Lisa Brown, Market Segment Director for Space & Launch Vehicles<\/strong>. As Artemis II prepares to launch, EBAD remains focused on delivering reliable systems that enable safe and successful human spaceflight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense (EBAD), which employs approximately 500 people in Simsbury, CT and 300 in Moorpark, CA has designed, manufactured, and rigorously tested mission-critical hardware supporting NASA\u2019s Artemis II mission; the first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit in more than 50 years. Artemis II will carry four astronauts on a 10-day lunar flyby, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[39,26,25,54],"class_list":["post-1611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-aerospace","tag-ground","tag-launch","tag-launch-vehicle-platforms"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1611"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1611\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}