Overview
- Artemis II launched with OTTO Engineering’s cockpit switches on Orion, which astronauts use to steer and to switch between manual and automated control.
- The Carpentersville, Illinois firm designed and built 17 unique, mission-specific switches after years of work with NASA engineers and visiting astronauts.
- Each switch went through rigorous qualification that included vibration tests, thermal cycling, and thousands of actuations to verify fail-safe performance.
- OTTO reports new orders, including about a thousand switches for simulators and future flights, and it expects to refine designs based on lessons from this mission.
- Founded in 1961 and now employing about 500 people, the family-run company previously supplied hardware for Apollo and the Space Shuttle.