SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM
The Space Launch System is an advanced heavy-lift launch vehicle designed for science and human exploration beyond low Earth orbit.
The SLS will be the most powerful rocket in history with the initial stage of development able to provide 8.4 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, weigh in at 5.5 million pounds, and carry 154,000 pounds (nearly 70 metric tons) of payload.
On 14 May 2019, SLS became a part of the Artemis Program.
The first SLS mission, Artemis I, flew 16 November 2022 with an uncrewed Orion spacecraft to the moon and back to demonstrate integrated system performance
A comparison of the proposed SLS configurations, with the initial Block 1 configuration
on the left.
In February 2026, SLS was frozen at Block 1. (NASA)
Block 1
Configuration
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(Courtesy NASA)
The Rocketdyne RS-25D rocket engine served as the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) from July 2001 until the retirement of the shuttle fleet in 2011. The RS-25E is based on a 2005 proposal for a simplified SSME.
SRBv (Solid Rocket Booster, 5 segment) is based on the same technology that the STS (space shuttle) used for its solid rocket boosters. ATK of Brigam City, Utah is the prime contractor and has begun processing the first hardware components for the initial qualification test planned for 2013.
The J-2X engine is being developed by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. The first engine being tested at the Stennis Space Center in 2011 achieved a 500 second, full flight duration burn during its eighth test.
The Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) is considered part of the payload and not the SLS itself. It will be present on both Block 1 flights and could appear in Block 1A as well. The ICPS can perform up to three burns, thus making lunar or other deep space destinations possible. ICPS specifications closely align with the existing Delta 4 Heavy upper stage. Solicitations for an ICPS were issued in May 2012.
Page last modified: 02 April 2026 14:32:21.
