EFT-1 was the first flight test of the Orion spacecraft — NASA's new deep space vehicle designed to carry astronauts beyond low Earth orbit for the first time since Apollo. Launched atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket on December 5, 2014, the uncrewed capsule completed two orbits of Earth in 4 hours and 24 minutes, reaching an altitude of 3,604 miles — 15 times higher than the International Space Station.

The primary objectives were to test Orion's heat shield during a high-speed re-entry (20,000 mph, generating temperatures up to 4,000°F), validate the parachute system, test avionics and flight software in the space environment, and evaluate Orion's performance as it passed through the Van Allen radiation belts twice.

The mission was a complete success. Orion's heat shield performed flawlessly, the parachute system deployed perfectly, and all spacecraft systems operated as designed. The data collected from EFT-1 directly informed the critical design review completed in 2015 and shaped the development of the Orion spacecraft that would eventually fly to the Moon on Artemis I in 2022 and carry astronauts on Artemis II in 2026.