Celestial Space Corporation has released the first image of its Enceladus capsule engineering unit model zero,  following its internal preliminary design review that was completed earlier this month. The model is a manufacturing pathfinder, made just as the production flight units will be, and this model and others will be used for altitude and structural testing.

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The Enceladus blunt body capsule has a dry mass of 2,870kg and a 3.8m diameter base, when its ablative thermal protection system is in place.

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Enceladus is described as having an integrated service element. This integrated system houses the reaction control, orbital maneuvering system thrusters’ propellant tanks, and takes up about 1 metre of the lower portion of the capsule.

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Enceladus can carry 1,220kg of Monomethylhydrazine, Nitrogen Textroxide storable propellant for its OMS/RCS thrusters and its trunk, in which the vehicle's potentially retractable solar arrays and thermal radiators are stowed, adds another 640kg to its mass. 

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The wet mass of Enceladus is expected to eventually be about 4,410kg, with a final maximum take off weight, including its 2,500kg payload of cargo or crew, of around 7,000kg.

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Celestial Space is preparing to launch an unmanned version of the Enceladus capsule in April. The spacecraft will ride into orbit atop the company's own Acheron rocket from Space Launch Complex 3 in the Netherlands.

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The test flight is designed to assess the spacecraft's ability to fly to space. If successful, the mission will mark the first time that a privately built European human spacecraft has been to orbit. 

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But Celestial Space has ambitions beyond ferrying cargo and supplies to space. The company is aiming to use Enceladus as the basis for a crewed capsule to take astronauts to space stations, and one day the moon.

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"From the beginning, we intended it to carry people," Kwingo said Thursday in a panel discussion about commercial human spaceflight.

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In the crewed version, the Enceladus capsule is designed to fit four passengers. The full-size mockup on display here was used to test the vehicle's design and cabin layout.

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