So we know NASA’s new rocket is going to be huge. What else do we know about it?

Photo - SLS Artist concept

To get a better understanding of why the rocket is designed the way it is, let’s take a quick look at the history of SLS.

About six years ago, Congress passed a law, called the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010, that directed NASA to build a new rocket. The rocket came to be known as the Space Launch System (SLS), and was defined as a key component in expanding human presence beyond low-Earth orbit. Currently, humans occupy low-Earth orbit on the International Space Station.

The law further defines SLS as being developed, managed and operated by NASA as “the follow-on government-owned civil launch system.”

This law requires NASA to use the infrastructure of the Space Shuttle program as much as possible. An example of the requirement in action is the modification of the Space Shuttle Main Engines for use with SLS by Aerojet Rocketdyne (a Founding Member of the Coalition for Deep Space Exploration).

For more about SLS engines being developed by Aerojet Rocketdyne, click here.

NASA’s Space Launch System will begin a new era of exploration. Set to launch in 2018, SLS will embark on a mission around the moon known called Exploration Mission-1. The flexibility of SLS will enable it to be used for missions to locations that include our moon and eventually Mars. For an overview of SLS, visit NASA.gov.