Space Launch System

Space Launch System
	SLS Block 1 with the Orion spacecraft launching from Pad 39B
Function	Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
Manufacturer	Aerojet Rocketdyne; Northrop Grumman; Boeing; United Launch Alliance
Country of origin	United States
Project cost	US$23.8 billion nominal
Cost per launch	Over US$2 billion excluding development (estimate)
Cost per year	US$2.555 billion for FY 2021
Size
Height	Block 1 Crew: 322 ft (98 m); Block 2 Cargo: 365 ft (111 m)
Diameter	27.6 ft (8.4 m), Core stage ; 16.7 ft (5.1 m), ICPS
Mass	5,750,000 lb (2,610 t)
Stages	2.5
Maximum thrust	39,000,000 N (39 MN; 4,000 tf; 8,800,000 lbf) (Total first stage thrust.)
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Mass	Block 1: 209,000 lb (95 t); Block 1B: 231,000 lb (105 t); Block 2: 290,000 lb (130 t);
Payload to trans-lunar injection
Mass	Block 1: > 59,500 lb (27 t); Block 1B Crew: 83,700 lb (38 t); Block 1B Cargo: 92,500 lb (42 t); Block 2 Crew: > 94,700 lb (43 t); Block 2 Cargo: > 101,400 lb (46 t);
Associated rockets
Based on	Ares V; Space Shuttle; Delta IV;
Comparable	Energia; N1; Saturn V; Falcon Heavy; Starship; Long March 9;
Launch history
Status	Active
Launch sites	Kennedy Space Center, LC-39B
Total launches	1
Success(es)	1
First flight	16 November 2022, 1:47:44 am EST (6:47:44 am UTC)
Type of passengers/cargo	Orion
No. boosters	2 five-segment Solid Rocket Boosters
Stage info
Boosters (Block 1, 1B)
No. boosters	2 five-segment Solid Rocket Boosters
Height	177 ft (54 m)
Diameter	12 ft (3.7 m)
Gross mass	730 t (1,600,000 lb)
Powered by	Solid fuel
Maximum thrust	Sea level: 3,280,000 lbf (14.6 MN; 1,490 tf); Vacuum: 3,600,000 lbf (16 MN; 1,600 tf)
Total thrust	Sea level: 6,560,000 lbf (29.2 MN; 2,980 tf); Vacuum: 7,200,000 lbf (32 MN; 3,300 tf)
Specific impulse	269 s (2.64 km/s)
Burn time	126 seconds
Propellant	PBAN, APCP
First stage (Block 1, 1B, 2) – Core stage
Height	212 ft (65 m)
Diameter	27.6 ft (8.4 m)
Empty mass	187,990 lb (85 t)
Gross mass	2,365,000 lb (1,073 t)
Powered by	4 RS-25D/E
Maximum thrust	Sea level: 1,672,000 lbf (7.44 MN; 758 tf); Vacuum: 2,049,200 lbf (9.115 MN; 929.5 tf)
Specific impulse	Sea level: 366 s (3.59 km/s); Vacuum: 452 s (4.43 km/s)
Burn time	480 seconds
Propellant	LH2 / LOX
Second stage (Block 1) – ICPS
Height	45 ft (13.7 m)
Diameter	16 ft (5 m)
Empty mass	3,490 kg (7,690 lb)
Gross mass	32,066 kg (70,693 lb)
Powered by	1 RL10B-2/C-2
Maximum thrust	24,800 lbf (110.1 kN)
Specific impulse	465.5 s (4.565 km/s)
Burn time	1125 seconds
Propellant	LH2 / LOX
Second stage (Block 1B, Block 2) – Exploration Upper Stage
Height	57 ft (17.3 m)
Diameter	28 ft (8.4 m)
Powered by	4 RL10C-3, later 4 RL10C-X
Maximum thrust	91,500 lbf (407.2 kN)
Burn time	350 seconds (LEO ascent); 925 seconds (TLI burn);
Propellant	LH2 / LOX

The Space Launch System (SLS) is an American super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle used by NASA. As the primary launch vehicle of the Artemis Moon landing program, SLS is designed to launch the crewed Orion spacecraft on a trans-lunar trajectory. The first SLS launch was the uncrewed Artemis 1, which took place on 16 November 2022.

Development of SLS began in 2011, as a replacement for the retired Space Shuttle as well as the cancelled Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles. As a Shuttle-derived vehicle, the SLS reuses hardware from the Shuttle program, including the solid rocket boosters and RS-25 first stage engines. A Congressionally mandated late 2016 launch was delayed by nearly 6 years.

All Space Launch System flights are launched from Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The first three SLS flights use the Block 1 configuration, comprising a core stage, extended Space Shuttle boosters developed for Ares I and the ICPS upper stage. An improved Block 1B configuration, with the Exploration Upper Stage, is planned to debut on the fourth flight; a further improved Block 2 configuration featuring new solid rocket boosters is planned to debut on the ninth flight. After the launch of Artemis 4, NASA plans to transfer production and launch operations of SLS to Deep Space Transport LLC, a joint venture between Boeing and Northrop Grumman.

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