Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of Graph Search.
Concept
Space Launch System
Summary
The Space Launch System (SLS) is an American super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle used by NASA. As the primary launch vehicle of the Artemis Moon landing program, SLS is designed to launch the crewed Orion spacecraft on a trans-lunar trajectory. The first SLS launch was the uncrewed Artemis 1, which took place on 16 November 2022.
Development of SLS began in 2011, as a replacement for the retired Space Shuttle as well as the cancelled Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles. As a Shuttle-derived vehicle, the SLS reuses hardware from the Shuttle program, including the solid rocket boosters and RS-25 first stage engines. A Congressionally mandated late 2016 launch was delayed by nearly 6 years.
All Space Launch System flights are launched from Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The first three SLS flights use the Block 1 configuration, comprising a core stage, extended Space Shuttle boosters developed for Ares I and the ICPS upper stage. An improved Block 1B configuration, with the Exploration Upper Stage, is planned to debut on the fourth flight; a further improved Block 2 configuration featuring new solid rocket boosters is planned to debut on the ninth flight. After the launch of Artemis 4, NASA plans to transfer production and launch operations of SLS to Deep Space Transport LLC, a joint venture between Boeing and Northrop Grumman.
Comparison of super heavy-lift launch vehicles
The SLS is a Space Shuttle-derived launch vehicle.
The first stage of the rocket is powered by one central core stage and two outboard solid rocket boosters. All SLS Blocks share a common core stage design, while they differ in their upper stages and boosters.
Space Launch System core stage
Together with the solid rocket boosters, the core stage is responsible for propelling the upper stage and payload out of the atmosphere to near orbital velocity.
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
Ontological neighbourhood
Related courses (14)
ME-251: Thermodynamics and energetics I
The course introduces the basic concepts of thermodynamics and heat transfer, and thermodynamic properties of matter and their calculation. The students will master the concepts of heat, mass, and mom
EE-582: Lessons learned from the space exploration
The objective of the course is to present with different viewpoints, the lessons learned which lead to the decisions in the space exploration and their consequences today and for the decades to come.
EE-585: Space mission design and operations
This course is a "concepts" course. It introduces a variety of concepts in use in the design of a space mission, manned or unmanned, and in space operations. it is partly based on the practical space
Related lectures (48)
Exergy and Thermodynamics
Explores exergy, entropy, and thermodynamic efficiencies in closed and open systems.
Space Mission Design and Operations: JWST
Covers the James Webb Space Telescope, launched in 2021 to study distant objects and exoplanets from a halo orbit around the L2 Lagrange point.
Deep Neural Networks: Optimization and Approximation
Explores optimization and approximation in deep neural networks, including optimal control and numerical experiments.
Related publications (24)
Experimental investigation of surface roughness effect on a free-flight sphere in a Ludwieg tube
Understanding the aerodynamic coefficients of meteoroid fragments, deorbiting space debris, or launch vehicle stages through atmospheric reentry is essential for ground risk assessments. In high enthalpy flow, surface roughness is a crucial factor affectin ...
KOREAN SOC MECHANICAL ENGINEERS2022Related people (8)
Related concepts (18)
Saturn V
Saturn V is a retired American super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by NASA under the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon. The rocket was human-rated, had three stages, and was powered with liquid fuel. It was flown from 1967 to 1973. It was used for nine crewed flights to the Moon, and to launch Skylab, the first American space station. As of 2023, the Saturn V remains the only launch vehicle to carry humans beyond low Earth orbit (LEO).
Rocket propellant
Rocket propellant is the reaction mass of a rocket. This reaction mass is ejected at the highest achievable velocity from a rocket engine to produce thrust. The energy required can either come from the propellants themselves, as with a chemical rocket, or from an external source, as with ion engines. Rockets create thrust by expelling mass rear-ward, at high velocity. The thrust produced can be calculated by multiplying the mass flow rate of the propellants by their exhaust velocity relative to the rocket (specific impulse).
Orion (spacecraft)
Orion (officially Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle or Orion MPCV) is a partially reusable crewed spacecraft used in NASA's Artemis program. The spacecraft consists of a Crew Module (CM) space capsule designed by Lockheed Martin and the European Service Module (ESM) manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space. Capable of supporting a crew of six beyond low Earth orbit, Orion can last up to 21 days undocked and up to six months docked. It is equipped with solar panels, an automated docking system, and glass cockpit interfaces modeled after those used in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Related MOOCs (4)
Space Mission Design and Operations
Learn the concepts used in the design of space missions, manned or unmanned, and operations, based on the professional experience of the lecturer.
Space Mission Design and Operations
Learn the concepts used in the design of space missions, manned or unmanned, and operations, based on the professional experience of the lecturer.
New Space Economy
The New Space Economy is a fast-growing market, driven by the commercialization of the historical institutional space sector. This course contains more than 30 videos-lectures from space experts from