If you stood by a giant booster for a rocket that soared 17 stories high into the sky, you might get a sense of the power of NASA’s new rocket. But that’s not even all of the power—there are two of these giant rocket boosters and an entire gigantic core stage with four engines at the bottom of it.
Where on Earth are we going with all this power? We’re leaving Earth and sending missions deep into space.
Building the world’s biggest rocket takes a big team. A big part of this big team are the more than 800 small businesses across more than 40 states in the U.S. that provide their specialized services to this program. The rocket, Space Launch System (SLS), will open up new possibilities for crew and cargo missions to a variety of deep space destinations.
Coalition founding member Orbital ATK supplies the solid rocket boosters to NASA. Here are two examples of the many small businesses that support Orbital ATK’s work and NASA’s launch vehicle for deep space exploration.
A small business in Connecticut with just 40 employees develops, qualifies and produces the avionics and command/destruct batteries for the solid rocket boosters. BST Systems, a member of the Coalition, has been supporting Orbital ATK’s work on the boosters since 2012. The batteries provided by this small company have a very important responsibility—they power all of the flight electronics and the booster command/destruct system.
As a result of supporting SLS, BST has improved the design of robust batteries for launch vehicles. The small business has been able to increase their manufacturing capabilities and will be able to support NASA’s launch requirements in the future.
Over in Indiana, a small business with 340 employees has been supporting SLS since 2011. Major Tool & Machine (MTM) performs concurrent engineering, precision machining, fabrication and assembly services for SLS.
As a direct result of supporting SLS, the small business has made investments in additional five-axis and high-velocity machining centers. MTM expanded their manufacturing capabilities and developed core competencies that will make them a more valuable supplier to both NASA and the SLS program. Furthermore, the small business has made human capital investments in the areas of engineering, quality assurance and skilled labor.
SLS will enable new and exciting missions to multiple deep space destinations. The two giant solid rocket boosters provide more than 75 percent of the rocket’s thrust at liftoff—3.6 million pounds each. These essential elements of the giant launch vehicle are possible through the continued hard work of small businesses all around the nation.
For more about SLS, visit NASA.gov.