Aptiv announced that VxWorks provides the software platform enabling deterministic performance for critical functions on the Space Launch System?s (SLS) first stage of launch and within the Orion crew vehicle. VxWorks is the industry?s most trusted and widely deployed real-time operating systems (RTOS) for mission-critical applications where safety and security are essential. It has powered dozens of NASA missions, from the Mars rovers to the James Webb Space Telescope, and as a key OS layer for multiple NASA core Flight System elements, it is implemented across the Artemis missions.
For 10 days, the Artemis II crew aboard Orion, NASA?s deep space crew vehicle, ventured around the Moon and back, confirming that the spacecraft?s systems performed as designed in deep space, validating the critical life support systems needed for longer duration missions, and giving the crew the opportunity to practice operations essential to Artemis III and beyond. Across numerous critical phases and components, VxWorks was the software enabling reliable, real-time performance for the Artemis II mission, from the SLS, the rocket that carried the crew out of Earth?s orbit, to the systems that sustained the astronauts through deep space and brought them safely home. A critical layer of crew safety throughout the mission was the Orion Backup Flight System (BFS).
Class A certified and fully independent from the primary flight system, the BFS was built with a deliberately different architecture, with no shared failure modes or common vulnerabilities. Beyond the flight software, Aptiv?s digital twin simulation ensured that every line of software was fully validated before it ran on physical hardware. Teams tested unmodified target software on a virtual platform that behaved exactly as the real system would, decoupling software development from hardware availability.
Up to 80-90% of simulation models can be reused for future missions.
