Space Launch System
The Space Launch System (SLS) is a NASA rocket.[1][2] It is a super heavy-lift launch vehicle.[1][2] It is the second most powerful rocket ever built, less powerful than Starship.[1] The SLS is a replacement for the retired Space Shuttle.[1] Many parts are modified versions of parts designed for the Space Shuttle. Others are new designs.
The first crewed (carrying people) flight will be no earlier than November 2024. The planned flight is Artemis 3.
Types
The Space Launch System comes in many different types meant to launch different kinds of missions.
Block 1
The least powerful kind of the SLS is the Block 1. The core stage will use the parts of the Space Shuttle External Tank. It will also use four Space Shuttle Main Engines. The rocket boosters are connected to the sides are the 5-segment Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters. The top stage will use is the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS).
Block 1B
Block 1B is similar to the Block 1. The top stage will change with Exploration Upper Stage (EUS). A crew version and a cargo version will be made.
Block 2
Block 2 is similar to Block 1B. The 5-segment SRBs will be changed with advanced boosters.
Space Launch System Media
The SLS core stage rolling out of the Michoud Assembly Facility for shipping to Stennis Space Center
Evolution of SLS from Block 1 configuration to various configurations.
SLS Booster test at Orbital ATK's desert facility northwest of Ogden, Utah, March 2015
Exploration Ground Systems and Jacobs prepare to lift and place the core stage of the SLS rocket, June 2021
Liquid hydrogen tank for Artemis 2 under construction, August 2020
Engine section shroud structure for Artemis 3 under construction, April 2021
Visual from the March 2020 Inspector General report, showing how NASA used accounting to "mask" a cost increase by moving the boosters (which cost $889 million) from the SLS to another cost center, without updating the SLS budget to match:iv,22
An expanded view of the Block IB configuration of NASA's Space Launch System rocket, including the four RL10 engines.
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