The SLS rocket expended millions of pounds of fuel before parts of the rocket began breaking away, and Orion was left to soar through orbit with just one large engine. Orion is designed to carry humans, but its passengers for this test mission are of the inanimate variety, including some mannequins collecting vital data to help future live crews.

Why NASA is returning to the moon 50 years later with Artemis IĪtop the rocket was the Orion spacecraft, a gumdrop-shaped capsule that broke away from the rocket after reaching space. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images) Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images The spacecraft will remain in space for 42 days before returning to Earth. It will propel the Orion crew capsule into orbit around the Moon. Artemis 1, an uncrewed test flight, will feature the first blastoff of the massive Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which will be the most powerful in the world when it goes into operation. The Boeing Exploration Launch Systems office supports NASA on strategy and policy for Space Exploration programs procured by the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.NASA's Artemis I Moon rocket is rolled out to Launch Pad Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on August 16, 2022. The Boeing SLS Program is managed out of the company’s Space and Launch division in Huntsville, Alabama, and employs Boeing’s workforce in Huntsville, at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, and at other Boeing sites and with suppliers across the country. Boeing remains proud of its role in the SLS program and excited about SLS’s potential. Boeing is not interested in participating in the National Security Space Launch Phase 3 procurement. The Space Launch System’s unique capabilities mean that it can perform challenging science, national security, and exploration missions for a broad scope of potential customers. NASA is Boeing’s customer for the core stage, upper stages and flight avionics of Space Launch System - America’s rocket - which will support the Artemis moon missions and make the next generation of human spaceflight possible.īoeing is committed to NASA’s Artemis program and to the National Space Council’s vision for continued American leadership and international partnerships in space. Boeing is currently building the core stages for Artemis II, III and IV as well as the first Exploration Upper Stage, which will replace the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) in future Artemis missions.Ībout the different components that form the Space Launch On November 16, 2022, the SLS rocket successfully launched as part of the Artemis I Mission, which served as an uncrewed test flight to validate the rocket components and systems in preparation for future crewed missions. NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) is the only proven deep-space optimized, super-heavy lift rocket built to carry astronauts and cargo farther and faster than any rocket in history.īoeing is the prime contractor for the design, development, test and production of the SLS core stage, upper stage and flight avionics suite. What NASA and its commercial and international partners learn on and around the Moon will enable astronauts to take the next giant leap - all the way to Mars. Now, with the NASA Artemis program - named after Apollo’s twin sister - Boeing will be part of landing the first woman and first person of color on the Moon and the sustainable exploration of more of the lunar surface than ever before. Boeing people and products have powered giant leaps in human space exploration over the past six decades.

Nasa launch today or not