Connecticut Businesses Power Artemis I Mission

A new era of space exploration is underway, and dozens of Connecticut businesses are powering the next generation of NASA missions.

NASA’s Artemis I mission, sending an unmanned Orion spacecraft around the moon, splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday, Dec. 11 after a successful 25 days of space exploration.

During the record-breaking mission, Orion traveled more than 1.4 million miles on a path around the Moon before returning safely to Earth, completing the Artemis I flight test.

“This has been an extraordinarily successful mission,” said NASA administrator Bill Nelson.

“From the launch of the world’s most powerful rocket to the exceptional journey around the Moon and back to Earth, this flight test is a major step forward in the Artemis Generation of lunar exploration.” 

Mission Support

Connecticut firms produced and supplied a wide range of critical parts and components for the Artemis 1 mission, supporting the launch rocket system, the Orion spacecraft, lunar landing craft, orbiting support outposts, and ground systems.

The 44 Connecticut suppliers to the Artemis I mission include:

• Advanced Torque Products LLC (Newington)
• Aerospace Techniques Inc. (Middletown)
• Aerospace Testing Laboratory Inc. (South Windsor)
• Air-Lock Inc. (Milford)
• Applied Physical Sciences Corp. (Groton)
• Ashcroft Inc. (Stratford)
• BST Systems Inc. (Plainfield)
• Blue Thunder Technologies LLC (Enfield)
• Bodycote Thermal Processing (South Windsor)
• Budney Industries Inc. (Berlin)
• Butler America Aerospace LLC (Shelton)
• Collins Aerospace (Windsor Locks)
• Colonial Spring Company (Bristol)
• Danbury Mission Technologies LLC (Danbury)
• Dexmet Corp. (Wallingford)
• Donwell Company Inc. (Manchester)
• Eaton Corp. (Bethel)
• Ensign-Bickford Aerospace (Simsbury)
• Fischer Technology Inc. (Windsor)
• Gartner Inc. (Stamford)
• Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation (Windsor Locks)
• Henkel Corp. (Rocky Hill)
• Infinity Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Inc. (Windsor)
• J.V. Precision Machine Co. (Seymour)
• Kamatics Corp. (Bloomfield)
• Kimtron Inc. (Oxford)
• Linde Inc. (Danbury)
• Omega Engineering Inc. (Norwalk)
• Omega Engineering Inc. (Stamford)
• Otis Elevator Co. (Farmington)
• Oxley Inc. (Branford)
• PTR (Enfield)
• Pegasus Manufacturing Inc. (Middletown)
• Pharmacal Research Laboratories Inc. (Waterbury)
• Pratt & Whitney (East Hartford)
• Privateer Ltd. (Old Saybrook)
• RBC Aircraft Bearings Inc. (Torrington)
• Space Electronics LLC (Berlin)
• Spartan Aerospace LLC (Manchester)
• TLD America Corp. (Windsor)TTM Technologies Inc. (Stafford)
• The Lee Company (Westbrook)
• Times Microwave Systems Inc. (Wallingford)
• Vanguard Products Corp. (Danbury)

‘Pivotal Time’

The splashdown for the Artemis I mission [see picture above] occurred 50 years to the day of the Apollo 17 moon landing, the last NASA lunar mission. 

It sets the stage for human deep space exploration, including lunar surface missions and eventually sending the first astronauts to Mars in the 2030s. 

“We are excited about our role in enabling these missions and technologies.”

The Lee Company’s Bill Lee

“This time we go back to the moon, to learn to live, to work, to invent, to create in order to go on out into the cosmos to further explore,” said Nelson.

Westbrook-based The Lee Company supplied NASA with plugs, valves, safety screens, restrictors, and flow fuses.

“This is a pivotal time for space travel and exploration, and we are excited about our role in enabling these missions and technologies,” said company president and CEO Bill Lee.

Legacy of Innovation

Windsor-based Infinity Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Inc. supplies NASA with fuel cell technology that can power flight and lunar surface missions.

“We look forward to ongoing opportunities to support NASA’s goals to return to the moon and missions beyond,” said president and CEO William Smith.

CBIA president and CEO Chris DiPentima noted that Connecticut companies have long played key roles in space exploration.

CBIA’s Chris DiPentima noted that Connecticut companies have long played key roles in space exploration.

“For instance, Hamilton Sundstrand, which is now part of Collins Aerospace, designed and produced the life support systems that were an essential component of astronaut suits beginning with the Apollo missions in the 1960s,” he said.

“That legacy of innovation continues today with NASA’s next generation of human missions to the Moon and beyond.”

Gov. Ned Lamont said it was “no surprise” that so many Connecticut companies were involved in NASA’s Artemis I mission as “Connecticut is home to the best trained, best skilled workforce in the world.”

“Our administration is committed to supporting the growth of these manufacturing companies through the operation of high-quality workforce development programs that help them fill the jobs necessary for these high-tech fields,” he said in a statement.