The Space Launch System (SLS) is an advanced, heavy-lift launch vehicle that provides new capabilities for science and human exploration in outer space. Boeing announced on Wednesday that they have signed a contract with NASA to help develop the core stage of the SLS.
Boeing is already involved contractually with NASA for national security-related space launches. The United Launch Alliance (ULA) - the joint efforts of Lockheed Martin and Boeing - supply NASA with rocket engines that they import from Russia. This has been of hot debate lately, especially since the US has imposed sanctions on Russia due to the crisis in Ukraine. SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk has publicly petitioned the ULA's relations with Russia.
Despite the controversy, the new $2.8 billion contract comes after NASA and Boeing completed the Critical Design Review, which is the last stage before production begins, on the core stage of the Space Launch System. If all goes as planned, the first test launch for the SLS will take place in 2017 to begin the journey into deep space exploration.
"Our teams have dedicated themselves to ensuring that the SLS - the largest ever - will be built safely, affordably and on time," Boeing SLS' Vice President and Program Manager Virginia Barnes, in this CBS Seattle article. "We are passionate about NASA's mission to explore deep space. It's a very personal mission, as well as a national mandate."
The SLS will have two configurations: the 70-metric-ton rocket and the 130-metric-ton rocket. The former will have the ability to lift more than 154,000 pounds whereas the latter will carry over 286,000 pounds. The launch scheduled for 2017 will carry the Orion spacecraft, which is built to take humans the farthest they've ever been in space. It can withstand extremely hot and extremely cold temperatures. NASA plans to have the Orion spacecraft visit a nearby asteroid and then eventually Mars.
The development of the SLS will make history and hopefully allow our space agency as well as the rest of the world to explore deep space, particularly Mars, where it has been hoped that humans can build and sustain a colony.
You can read more about the Boeing and NASA contract in this Boeing news release.
