
Space Launch System
Sign in to saveAlso known as SLS
The Space Launch System (SLS) is an American two-stage super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle used by NASA. The primary launch vehicle for the Artemis program, SLS is designed to launch the four-person Orion spacecraft for missions to the Moon, on a trans-lunar injection trajectory. The rocket first launched on November 16, 2022, carrying the uncrewed Artemis I mission. Its first crewed launch was for the Artemis II lunar flyby on April 1, 2026, becoming the second launch vehicle to carry humans beyond low Earth orbit (LEO), after NASA's Saturn V of the Apollo program, and the third to ever be planned to fly humans past LEO, after the N1.
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Key facts
- Function
- Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
- Manufacturer
- Aerojet Rocketdyne Boeing Northrop Grumman United Launch Alliance
- Country of origin
- United States
- Project cost
- US$ 31.6 billion as of 2025 (excluding Orion)
- Cost per launch
- US$2.5 billion (excluding Orion)
- Cost per year
- US$2.6 billion ( FY 23) (excluding Orion)
- Height
- 98 m (322 ft)
- Diameter
- 8.4 m (27.6 ft)
- Mass
- 2,610,000 kg (5,750,000 lb)
- Stages
- 2½
- Maximum thrust
- 39 MN (8,800,000 lbf)
- Altitude
- 200 km (120 mi)
- Orbital inclination
- 28.5°
- Based on
- Ares V Delta IV Space Shuttle
- Comparable
- Energia Falcon Heavy Long March 9 N1 Saturn V Starship
- Status
- Active
- Launch sites
- Kennedy , LC-39B
- First flight
- November 16, 2022
via Wikipedia infobox
Official website

Space Launch System (SLS) - NASA
Combining power and capability, NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration and Artemis.
nasa.gov →NASA explores the unknown in air and space, innovates for the benefit of humanity, and inspires the world through discovery. Technicians inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida install and test antennas on a solar array on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, for the agency’s Europa Clipper spacecraft. NASA’s future will continue to be a story of human exploration, technology, and science. We will go back to the Moon to learn more about what it will take to support human exploration to Mars and beyond. We will continue to nurture the development of a vibrant low-Earth orbit economy that builds on the work done to date by the International Space Station. NASA engineers will develop new technologies to improve air transport at home and meet the challenges of advanced space exploration. Our scientists will work to increase an understanding of our planet and our place in the universe. The Artemis II crew, from left: NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman and Christina Koch; CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen; and NASA astronaut Victor Glover pose for a group photo after viewing the Orion spacecraft in the well deck of the USS John P. Murtha, Saturday, April 11, 2026, in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. When NASA opened for business on October 1, 1958, it accelerated the work already started on human and robotic spaceflight, and over the last 65 years it has continued to push the boundaries of aeronautics and space exploration. Now NASA is preparing to take humankind farther than ever before, as it helps to foster a robust commercial space economy near Earth, and pioneers further human and robotic exploration as we venture into deep space. NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover took a selfie with the Ingenuity helicopter, seen here about 13 feet from the rover. This image was taken by the WASTON camera on the rover’s robotic arm on April 6, 2021, the 46th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Jared “Rook” Isaacman is the 15th Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. An entrepreneur and skilled pilot, Isaacman commanded Inspiration4, the first all-civilian orbital spaceflight aboard the Dragon spacecraft. The mission was a major milestone in commercial spaceflight. Matt Anderson is NASA’s deputy administrator. Anderson is a decorated Air Force command pilot in multiple aircraft with more than 5,000 flight hours, including more than 650 in combat. Throughout his 24-year Air Force career, he served on several senior U.S. Department of War staffs and commanded at multiple levels before retiring in 2021. Amit Kshatriya is NASA’s associate administrator. Kshatriya serves as the highest-ranking civil servant at the agency and as a senior advisor to the administrator. Kshatriya leads the agency’s 10 center directors, as well as the mission directorate associate administrators at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Align your talents with your passion and find out why NASA consistently is named a best place to work in the federal government. At NASA, you'll have an opportunity to work on unique and challenging projects that truly make an impact on humanity. Stay up-to-date on the latest news from NASA–from Earth to the Moon, the Solar System and beyond.
Read more on their site →Excerpt from the official site · 37,009 chars · not written by Vinony
Wikidata facts
- Subclass of
- super heavy-lift launch vehicle
- Operator
- NASA
- Country of origin
- United States
- Official website
- www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/space-launch-system
- Image
- Artemis II launch (SLS MAF 20260401 ArtemisIILaunch 02) crop.jpg
- Has parts of class
- Exploration Upper Stage
Show 4 more facts
- Commons category
- Space Launch System
- topic's main category
- Category:Space Launch System
- social media followers
- 634427
- capital cost
- 2550000000
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
Article · Nederlands
Het Space Launch System (SLS), letterlijk "ruimtelanceersysteem", is een serie Amerikaanse draagraketten van NASA voor lanceringen van zowel zware vrachtladingen als bemande ruimtevaartmissies naar andere planeten, manen en planetoïden. Senators Bill Nelson en Kay Bailey Hutchison kondigden op 14 september 2011 namens de Amerikaanse senaat aan, dat besloten was de ontwikkeling van het SLS na afronding van het spaceshuttleprogramma Ruimte Exploratie Missies uit te laten voeren. In de originele plannen moest het SLS in 2016 debuteren, maar de ontwikkeling liep veel vertraging op. De eerste vlucht werd gelanceerd op 16 november 2022. Sinds het aantreden van president Trump is het doel van SLS verschoven richting een terugkeer naar de Maan (het Artemisprogramma). Missies naar Mars en andere Deep Space-locaties blijven wel een langetermijndoel voor het SLS. Een aantal elementen van de Spaceshuttle en andere bestaande raketten kan na aanpassing hergebruikt worden, waaronder de RS-25-hoofdmotoren (vier stuks bij de eerste vlucht). De tijdelijke tweede trap (Interim Upper Stage) voor de eerste vlucht is vrijwel identiek aan de 5 meter uitvoering van tweede trap van de Delta IV en onderdelen van de twee extra SRM-draagraketten (de SRMs van het SLS zullen 20% groter zijn dan die van de Spaceshuttle). Hierdoor verwachtte men dat de ontwikkeltijd veel korter zou zijn dan voor de Ares V van het geannuleerde Project Constellation. Ook onderdelen van Project Constellation kunnen worden hergebruikt in het SLS. De bemanningsmodule Orion van Project Constellation wordt doorontwikkeld onder de naam Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) en kan door het SLS gelanceerd worden voor missies naar andere planeten en andere hemellichamen. Het SLS is ontworpen als zeer zwaar lanceervaartuig (super heavy lift-klasse). De eerste versie (97,5 meter hoog) werd aanvankelijk ontworpen om tot 70 ton vracht naar een lage baan om de aarde kunnen brengen. Doordat de geselecteerde motoren door upgrades flink sterker werden, bleek de Block I variant uiteindelijk geschikt om tot 95 ton naar een lage baan om de aarde te kunnen lanceren. Deze kan verder ontwikkeld worden tot grotere versies met een capaciteit van 130 ton vracht. Ter vergelijking: de Spaceshuttles konden maar zo'n 25 ton vracht aan. En hoewel het SLS qua techniek en tijdspanne een opvolger van de Spaceshuttle is, is het qua functionaliteit een opvolger van de Saturnus V.
Abstract from DBpedia / Wikipedia · CC BY-SA