ALTER Ensured Safety for the Artemis II Mission of NASA

Spaceflight ALTER Ensured Safety for the Artemis II Mission of NASA

2026-04-04 Source: Press release TÜV NORD AG | Translated by AI 1 min Reading Time

Related Vendors

Extensive testing and component assurance enables a safe and reliable return of human spaceflight to the Moon after more than five decades.

Artemis II launch. (Source: NASA) — Artemis II launch.
(Source: NASA)

The TÜV NORD subsidiary ALTER made important contributions to the lunar mission Artemis II of NASA (US National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and ESA (European Space Agency). For the first time in more than 50 years, humans fly to the Moon again. NASA had already positioned the rocket system for Artemis II. ALTER TÜV NORD carried out essential tests and inspections.

“Artemis II set standards for international cooperation and technological excellence. ALTER’s role in this mission confirms our ambition to enable safety at the highest technological level,” said Dirk Stenkamp, CEO of TÜV NORD.

During Artemis II, the spacecraft Orion carries four astronauts into the vicinity of the Moon. For ten days, they orbit the Moon for research purposes. Orion consists of the US crew module and the central propulsion and supply unit, the European Service Module, or ESM, for which ESA is responsible. For the ESM, ALTER procured and tested more than 20,000 electrical, electronic and electromechanical components. These components are responsible, among other things, for the power supply of Orion, the propellant supply, as well as the safe provision of water and oxygen for the crew.

ALTER specialises in ensuring that space systems and components function reliably and withstand the extreme conditions of space, such as temperature fluctuations and vibrations during rocket launch. “The requirements for testing for this lunar mission were among the strictest worldwide,” explained Manuel Morales, responsible for component and product assurance at ALTER. “The objective is to transport humans safely to the Moon and back to Earth on the most exciting space mission since Apollo 17.”

NASA had positioned the Artemis II launch vehicle together with the Orion spacecraft at the launch complex of the Kennedy Space Center. The launch window for the mission began on 1 April 2026.

Subscribe to the newsletter now

Don't Miss out on Our Best Content

Business E-mail

Please enter a valid mailadress.

By clicking on „Subscribe to Newsletter“ I agree to the processing and use of my data according to the consent form (please expand for details) and accept the Terms of Use. For more information, please see our Privacy Policy. The consent declaration relates, among other things, to the sending of editorial newsletters by email and to data matching for marketing purposes with selected advertising partners (e.g., LinkedIn, Google, Meta)

Date: 08.12.2025

Naturally, we always handle your personal data responsibly. Any personal data we receive from you is processed in accordance with applicable data protection legislation. For detailed information please see our privacy policy.

Consent to the use of data for promotional purposes

I hereby consent to Vogel Communications Group GmbH & Co. KG, Max-Planck-Str. 7-9, 97082 Würzburg including any affiliated companies according to §§ 15 et seq. AktG (hereafter: Vogel Communications Group) using my e-mail address to send editorial newsletters. A list of all affiliated companies can be found here

Newsletter content may include all products and services of any companies mentioned above, including for example specialist journals and books, events and fairs as well as event-related products and services, print and digital media offers and services such as additional (editorial) newsletters, raffles, lead campaigns, market research both online and offline, specialist webportals and e-learning offers. In case my personal telephone number has also been collected, it may be used for offers of aforementioned products, for services of the companies mentioned above, and market research purposes.

Additionally, my consent also includes the processing of my email address and telephone number for data matching for marketing purposes with select advertising partners such as LinkedIn, Google, and Meta. For this, Vogel Communications Group may transmit said data in hashed form to the advertising partners who then use said data to determine whether I am also a member of the mentioned advertising partner portals. Vogel Communications Group uses this feature for the purposes of re-targeting (up-selling, cross-selling, and customer loyalty), generating so-called look-alike audiences for acquisition of new customers, and as basis for exclusion for on-going advertising campaigns. Further information can be found in section “data matching for marketing purposes”.

In case I access protected data on Internet portals of Vogel Communications Group including any affiliated companies according to §§ 15 et seq. AktG, I need to provide further data in order to register for the access to such content. In return for this free access to editorial content, my data may be used in accordance with this consent for the purposes stated here. This does not apply to data matching for marketing purposes.

Right of revocation

I understand that I can revoke my consent at will. My revocation does not change the lawfulness of data processing that was conducted based on my consent leading up to my revocation. One option to declare my revocation is to use the contact form found at https://contact.vogel.de. In case I no longer wish to receive certain newsletters, I have subscribed to, I can also click on the unsubscribe link included at the end of a newsletter. Further information regarding my right of revocation and the implementation of it as well as the consequences of my revocation can be found in the data protection declaration, section editorial newsletter.