This stage will propel the Orion capsule to the moon or beyond after it has attained orbit. Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, which is based on the upper stage for the Delta IV rocket and is powered by one RL10 engine, a design that has been used for decades. Mounted on top of the core stage is what’s called the Attached to the sides of the core stage are two solid-rocket boosters, similar to those used on the shuttle but with five segments of solid fuel instead of four.ĭifficulties pushed back the first SLS launch by years, although not all the problems were within NASA’s control. RS-25 engines developed for the shuttle mounted on its base. The core stage of SLS is a modified version of the external tank from the shuttle, with four
To achieve that, NASA extensively repurposed shuttle hardware. The goal was to have a rocket capable of placing at least 70 tonnes into orbit by the end of 2016. It directed the agency to develop a new rocket, the Space Launch System, using technologies and contracts already in place for the shuttle program. The White House and Congress reached a compromise in a 2010 NASA authorization bill. Some in Congress pushed back, worried about the effect on the space industry of canceling Constellation at the same time NASA was retiring its space shuttles. In 2010, the Obama administration announced its intent to cancel NASA’s Constellation program for returning people to the moon, citing rising costs and delays. NASA’s newest rocket didn’t originate in the VAB, of course-it began life on Capitol Hill. As this giant vehicle nears its first launch later this year, it runs the risk of being overtaken by commercial rockets that have benefited from new technologies and new approaches to development. But it’s also symbolic of NASA’s way of developing rockets, which is often characterized by cost overruns and delays. “And I like to think of it as the Statue of Liberty, because it’s very engineering-complicated piece of equipment, and it’s very inclusive. October 2021 briefing about the rocket’s impending launch. “It’s taller than the Statue of Liberty,” he said at an To fully view the 98-meter-tall vehicle, he had to back off to the opposite side of the building. Space Launch System (SLS) vehicle there in October, after the last component, the Orion spacecraft, was installed on top. Tom Whitmeyer, NASA’s deputy associate administrator for exploration system development, recalled seeing the completed Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida-a cavernous structure built in the 1960s for constructing the Apollo program’s Saturn V rockets and, later, for preparing the space shuttle-the agency’s next big rocket is taking shape.
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