On September 25, 10 booster engine components for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) SLS (Space Launch System) rocket arrived at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. They will form the double five-section solid rocket booster of the SLS rocket, generating more than 75% of the total thrust at liftoff to send NASA's Artemis mission to the moon.
Due to their heavy weight, the 10 booster engine segments were transported by rail across eight states to the space launch site in special transport vehicles. NASA's Ground Exploration System project team is currently preparing to process each component within the space center's Rotation, Processing and Pressurization Facility before integrating them into the Launch Vehicle Assembly Building.
NASA needs a larger booster to accomplish the bold mission the SLS rocket will give us. This infographic summarizes everything you need to know about the Space Launch System Solid Rocket Booster (SRB). The booster uses a 5-section solid propellant engine, which is the largest component of the booster. Image source: NASA/MSFC
"The arrival of the SLS solid rocket booster engine components is an important milestone for NASA and our mission," said Amit Kshatriya, associate administrator for the Moon to Mars Program Office at NASA Headquarters. MISS partners have begun preparations for stacking and launch preparations for Artemis 2. When fully stacked, these boosters for NASA's SLS rocket are the largest and most powerful boosters ever built for spaceflight and will help send the first astronauts around the moon in more than 50 years."
The SLS solid rocket booster is manufactured by Northrop Grumman, the SLS booster prime contractor in Utah. It has three main components, of which the engine section is the largest part of the booster. The team will inspect them, as well as the booster's front and rear skirt assemblies. They will then rotate the sections into a vertical position in preparation for the Artemis II stacking operation. The top and bottom parts of the booster were previously assembled at Kennedy's booster manufacturing facility.
Two 177-foot-tall solid rocket boosters help NASA launch the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for the Artemis moon landing mission. Each booster is composed of several large structures that are assembled and prepared for launch by the Discovery Ground Systems team at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Image credit: NASA/Kevin O'Brien
After the processing is completed, workers will move all the main parts one by one to the launch vehicle assembly building, where they will be stacked into 17-story boosters on each side of the rocket. Once completed, engineers and technicians will integrate the rocket's core stage. The SLS rocket's twin boosters and core stage's four RS-25 engines produce more than 8.8 million pounds of thrust.
Artemis 2 is the first manned Artemis mission and will test all systems of the Orion spacecraft. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen will fly on the spacecraft before future missions to the moon.