NASA shares an update about its next generation launch system, SLS - Digital Trends

nasa sls progress update 70mt dac3 orange launch from ocean uhr2 1 — This artist rendering shows a wide-angle view of the liftoff of the 70-metric-ton (77-ton) crew vehicle configuration SLS from the launchpad. NASA/MSFC

NASA is working on a next-generation launch system called Space Launch System, or SLS, hoping to create a transport system to take astronauts of the future to the Moon and beyond. Design and manufacturing for SLS was already underway last year, and now NASA has announced their progress towards the first mission for the new system, Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) in 2020.

The first part of the new system is a crew capsule called Orion. Engineers are currently working on stacking the crew and service modules together and checking that they operate harmoniously. Once these fitting tests are complete, the stacked modules will be taken to NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Ohio where they will be tested in a thermal vacuum and against electromagnetic interference. Then the modules will return to the Kennedy Space Center for final testing before they are integrated with SLS.

nasa sls progress update block 1b in flight tw adj 1 — The next generation of NASA’s Space Launch System will be 364 feet tall in the crew configuration, will deliver a 105-metric-ton (115-ton) lift capacity and feature a powerful exploration upper stage. On SLS’s second flight with Orion, the newer rocket will carry up to four astronauts on a mission around the moon, in the deep-space proving ground for the technologies and capabilities needed on NASA’s Journey to Mars. NASA

The second part of the system is the SLS rocket. Production of the first flight’s core stage is nearly completed, and once finished the SLS will be the most powerful rocket in the world. The other part of the core stage being worked on is the engine section, which sits at the bottom of the core stage and feeds propellant into the four powerful RS-25 engines. Once this section is complete it will be connected to the 130-foot-long liquid hydrogen propellant tank, then also to the forward section which includes the liquid oxygen tank.

nasa sls progress update core stage infographic reboot 1 — An illustration of Space Launch System Core Stage 101 NASA/MSFC

All of the preparations are building towards the EM-1 unmanned test flight in 2020, followed by a mission to send a crew around the Moon and back to Earth in a second mission called Exploration Mission-2 (EM-2) by 2023.