NASA’s new heavy-lift SLS (Space Launch System) rocket will launch the Artemis II crewed moon mission. It is currently the most powerful operational rocket in the world.
The SLS rocket will be evolvable and capable of carrying crew or cargo. It will use upgraded versions of heritage Space Shuttle engines and boosters.
Which rocket will NASA use for the Artemis II mission?
NASA will use the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket with the Block 1 configuration for the Artemis II mission. It is the most powerful rocket NASA has ever built.
The SLS Block 1 stands 322.4 ft (98.27 m) tall and weighs 5.74 million lb (2,604 t) when fueled.
At liftoff, the rocket generates 8.8 million lb (39,144 kN) of thrust—more than the Saturn V that launched the Apollo missions to the moon in the 1960s and 1970s. The SLS Block 1 can carry 59,525 lb (27 t) to the moon in a single launch.
Here are the major elements of the SLS Block 1:
- The core stage
- RS-25 engines
- Solid rocket boosters
- Interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS)
- Launch vehicle stage adapter (LVSA)
- Orion stage adapter (OSA)
The core stage serves as the backbone of the rocket, supporting the weight of the payload, upper stage, and Orion spacecraft. It stores cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen that power the RS-25 engines.
The RS-25 is the most efficient engine NASA has ever built. A cluster of four RS-25 engines will be used in NASA’s SLS rocket, providing more than 2 million pounds of thrust at liftoff.
Two solid rocket boosters will operate in parallel with the RS-25 engines for the first two minutes of the rocket’s flight, providing the additional thrust needed for the launch vehicle to escape the gravitational pull of Earth. Each booster can generate a maximum thrust of 3.6 million pounds.
Evolutionary path of NASA’s SLS rocket
SLS Block 1 with the Orion spacecraft will launch the first three Artemis missions. Following Artemis III, SLS will evolve to a more powerful Block 1B configuration with the new Exploration Upper Stage, replacing the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage. The ultimate variant, Block 2, will incorporate evolved boosters to increase payload mass to translunar injection (TLI) to at least 101,000 lb (46 t).
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