It provides in-space propulsion capability for orbital transfer, attitude control, and high altitude ascent aborts.

It provides the water and oxygen needed for a habitable environment, generates and stores electrical power, and maintains the temperature of the vehicle's systems and components.

Successful initial testing of an Orion solar array design using full-scale "UltraFlex wing" hardware was reported in October 2008.

The OME was an increased performance version of the 27-kilonewton (6,000 lbf) thrust rocket engine used by the Space Shuttle for its Orbital Maneuvering System.

The service module also mounted the spacecraft's waste heat management system (its radiators) and the aforementioned solar panels.

These panels, along with backup batteries located in the Orion CM, would provide in-flight power to the ship's systems.

A public outcry led to the program being frozen rather than outright cancelled and a review launched in to how costs could be cut, which found that it was possible to continue if there was an emphasis on finding alternate funding, reducing the complexity by narrowing the scope to focus on the Moon and deep space rather than Mars, and by reusing existing hardware, reducing the range of equipment requiring development.

The Ares I launcher intended for crew flights had significant design issues such as being overweight and prone to dangerous vibration, and in the case of a catastrophic failure its blast radius exceeded the escape system's ejection range.

On 21 June 2012, Astrium announced that it had been awarded two separate studies to evaluate possible future missions building on the technology and experience gained from its development of ATV and the Columbus laboratory.

[13] In January 2013, NASA announced its agreement, made the preceding December, that ESA would build the service module for Exploration Mission-1 (renamed Artemis I), then scheduled to take place in 2017.

[14] On 17 November 2014 ESA signed a €390 million fixed price contract with Airbus Defence and Space for the development and construction of the first ATV-based service module.

[15] In December 2016, ESA's member states agreed it would extend its commitment to the ISS to 2024, and would supply a second service module, as part of the resulting budgetary obligation.