From West Virginia to deep space: Ravenswood aluminium joins Artemis II

The Artemis program, which is NASA’s bold mission to return humans to the Moon and pave the way for crewed missions to Mars, has set out the launch window for NASA’s Artemis II mission. This launch is set to roll out in the next month. Post the launch to the Moon, nearly 11 hundred of Constellium’s Ravenswood plant employees will be watching their work soar into outer space.

Four astronauts will be sent with Artemis II into space, which is much higher than any human has gone in history. The inside craft is being made by using aluminium, which is produced at the Ravenswood plant. Moreover, the astronauts who have been onboarded for the Artemis II mission will be witnessing the other side of the moon, which humans have not explored.

As the rocket leaves the Earth's surface, it will be taking a piece of West Virginia with it because the aluminium used to build Artemis II, seen all over the exterior, has been sourced, as previously mentioned, from Ravenswood. 

Also read: Recycling on the moon: NASA turns space waste into mission-critical resources

It is known that not all aluminium can be used for building a rocket; the aluminium needs to be of aerospace grade for usability. In selecting West Virginia's aluminium to roll out in space, Jeremy Pinier, the NASA Space Launch Systems (SLS) Project Lead, underwent calls over Zoom with 13 News.

Pinier said, "And, that’s probably what this company in West Virginia is producing. Understand the environment that this rocket is flying through. It’s going from zero to Mach, to, to you know, five times the speed of sound, six, eight times the speed of sound in the atmosphere. [Constellium] is building a soda can that is strong enough not to get crushed by the air loads."

Constellium Vice President Brian McCallie stated, "We produced aluminium plates that are used, basically, tip to tail on this Artemis II rocket. We’ve got applications in the Orion space capsule that will actually carry the astronauts all the way down to the bottom of the vehicle at the heat shield."

Don’t miss out- Buyers are looking for your products on our B2B platform

He further added, "The aluminium that we make here in Ravenswood, WV, does some amazing things, but nothing quite like this, and to know that the plates that we make here are going to carry astronauts into deep space is just phenomenal and gives us a real sense of pride in what we do every day."

Constellium continues to be an essential stakeholder in the mission as the launch date of Artemis II approaches. The aluminium supplier for the project has been involved from an early stage and the Vice President looks forward to seeing the outcome, which can be determined after the launch.

To this, he further commented, "It’s bringing Constellium’s unique solutions, like aluminum-lithium alloy plates, to the table and working with the engineers at NASA and various other parties to say, ‘Here’s a material that we have that can do some unique things and is extremely lightweight and is also very strong,’ and I think it’s just a matter of collaborating with them on solutions."

Must read: Key industry individuals share their thoughts on the trending topics

The aluminium producer's contribution does not end at the launch, but goes beyond that. This is because NASA is en route to soon introduce Artemis III, which will put humans on the moon's surface for the first time since 1972. For this mission and beyond as well, the Vice President wants to supply the Ravenswood-produced aluminium.

On this, he said, "The intention is to not only get to the moon, but the next step in that evolution would be to get to Mars and to know that the state of West Virginia, and absolutely here in Ravenswood, WV, as well, really a sense of pride overcomes you."

Last week, the launch window of Artemis II had been delayed to March, especially after the "wet dress rehearsal" conducted for the mission. The set launch date has not been decided yet, but this will take the astronauts into space, which has not covered previously. 

To know more about the global primary aluminium industry 2026 outlook, book the report “Global ALuminium Industry Outlook 2026".