The new rocket to support the nation’s exploration into deep space continues to make progress toward its first flight.
Built by NASA, Space Launch System (SLS) will fly for the first time in 2018. In the last month, an important piece of the rocket was finished and additional satellites were announced that will fly on its first mission.
A structural test article of a key component was completed last month. This component will connect the core stage and upper stage of the rocket, and is known as the Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter (LVSA). What’s the purpose of this test article? The component will be assembled with different test articles of the rocket’s upper stage and tested to make sure it can experience the extreme forces of flight. It completed manufacturing at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
Image Credit: NASA/MSFC/Emmett Given
SLS will carry NASA’s new Orion crew capsule, but it will also carry several small satellites on its 2018 maiden flight. Known as CubeSats, 13 of these will fly in total. The CubeSats will fly in a component of SLS that was recently completed – the Orion Stage Adapter. The last three CubeSat slots were filled by international partners.
Learn more about the CubeSats here.
With its continuing progress and capabilities, we are closer than ever to exploring deep space. The first flight in 2018 will be unmanned, but future missions will send astronauts farther into space than they’ve ever gone before–to Mars and beyond.