The Orion spacecraft could be on its first trip to the moon on the Artemis I mission in less than a month, but teams at Kennedy Space Center continue to prep the next capsules planned for human missions, the first of which could fly in just over 18 months.

Meanwhile Lockheed Martin, the capsule's prime contractor for the first five Artemis flights won a new NASA contract this month to build out another three spacecraft.

"This order includes spacecraft, mission planning and support, and takes us into the 2030s," said Lisa Callahan, vice president and general manager for Commercial Civil Space at Lockheed Martin. "We're on the eve of a historic launch kicking off the Artemis era and this contract shows NASA is making long-term plans toward living and working on the moon, while also having a forward focus on getting humans to Mars."

Artemis I is targeting its next launch attempt as early as Nov. 14. The flight will send the Space Launch System rocket topped with Orion from KSC's Launch Pad 39-B on a weeks-long mission that will have it orbit the moon several times and fly farther than, and return to Earth faster than any previous human-rated spacecraft.