Rocket to the Moon, Mars and Beyond

Boeing people and products have powered giant leaps in human space exploration over the past five decades. Now, with the NASA Artemis program — named after Apollo’s twin sister — Boeing will be part of landing the first woman and next man on the moon and the sustainable exploration of more of the lunar surface than ever before. 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. NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) is the technologically advanced, heavy-lift rocket that will get us there.

Boeing is the prime contractor for the design, development, test and production of the launch vehicle core stage and upper stages, as well as development of the flight avionics suite. The Boeing-built core stage for the Artemis I mission has completed a series of tests known as Green Run at the agency’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. It will be refurbished and delivered to Kennedy Space Center in Florida for integration with the rest of SLS. Meanwhile, Boeing is building the core stages for Artemis II and III.

Click the + icons to learn more about the different components that form the Space Launch System.

Built by Boeing Built by non-Boeing supplier

Orion Spacecraft

Launched on SLS, the Orion spacecraft will serve as the exploration vehicle that will carry up to four crew members to space, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during multiweek missions and provide a safe reentry to Earth from deep space return velocities. It’s composed of a crew module, service module and launch abort system.

Built by Lockheed Martin | NASA/Radislav Sinyak photo

ICPS

The Interim Cryogenic Propulsion System (ICPS) for SLS Block 1 is the initial configuration that can deliver 27 metric tons of payload to the moon. Based on the proven Delta Cryogenic Second Stage and powered by one Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10 engine, ICPS will propel an uncrewed Orion spacecraft to fly beyond the moon and back on the Artemis I mission.

Built by United Launch Alliance and Boeing | NASA/Ben Smegelsky photo

LVSA

The Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter (LVSA) connects the Block 1 core stage to the upper stage while providing structural, electrical and communication paths. It separates the core stage from the second stage that includes astronauts in the Orion crew vehicle. The cone-shaped adapter is roughly 30 feet in diameter by 30 feet tall. The LVSA consists of 16 aluminum-lithium 2195 alloy panels.

Built by Teledyne Brown Engineering | NASA/Fred Deaton photo

Forward Skirt

As the brains of SLS, the forward skirt is responsible for the rocket reaching its destination. It houses flight computers, cameras and avionics — the routers, processors, power, other boxes and software that control stage functions and communications. Along with the liquid oxygen tank and the intertank, it makes up the top half of the core stage.

Built by Boeing | NASA/Eric Bordelon photo

LOX Tank

The liquid oxygen (LOX) tank holds 196,000 gallons (742,000 liters) of liquid oxygen cooled to minus 297 degrees Fahrenheit. Its thermal foam coating protects it from extreme temperatures — the cold of the propellants and the heat of friction. A test article at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in 2020 was subjected to 170% maximum predicted flight loads — far beyond the pressures of liftoff and launch — before rupturing and spilling 197,000 gallons (746,000 liters) of water across the test stand.

Built by Boeing | NASA photo

Intertank

Joining the LH2 and LOX tanks, the intertank houses avionics and electronics that will control the rocket in flight. It also anchors two massive solid rocket boosters. The avionics units on the SLS core stage work with the flight software to perform various functions during the first eight minutes of flight. Some control the navigation, some communicate with the Orion spacecraft and some control how the engines perform. The intertank makes up the top half of the core stage, along with the LOX tank and forward skirt.

Built by Boeing | NASA/Jude Guidry photo

Solid Rocket Boosters

The largest human-rated solid rocket boosters ever built for flight, the SLS twin boosters stand 17 stories tall and burn about six tons of propellant every second. Each booster generates more thrust than 14 four-engine jumbo commercial airliners. Together, the SLS twin boosters provide more than 75% of the total thrust at launch.

Built by Northrop Grumman | NASA/Scott Mohrman photo

LH2 Tank

The liquid hydrogen (LH2) tank comprises two-thirds of the core stage, weighs 150,000 pounds (68,000 kilograms) and holds 537,000 gallons (2 million liters) of liquid hydrogen cooled to minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit. Thermal foam keeps the LH2 at the right temperature and pressure. A test article structurally identical to the flight hardware at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in 2019 withstood more than 260% of expected flight loads over five hours before buckling.

Built by Boeing | NASA/MAF/Steven Seipel photo

Engine Section

In addition to its miles of cabling and hundreds of sensors, the engine section is a crucial attachment point for the four RS-25 engines that work with two solid rocket boosters to produce a combined 8.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. Avionics here steer the engines, too. It was built vertically and flipped to horizontally to connect with the LH2 tank.

Built by Boeing | NASA photo

RS-25 Engines

Four RS-25 engines will deliver more than 2 million pounds of thrust at altitude. Combined with two five-segment solid rocket boosters, the propulsion system will give SLS about 8.8 million pounds of thrust at launch — more lift than any current rocket and 15% more than the Saturn V. An RS-25 variant is under production for Artemis missions past the first four.

Built by Aerojet Rocketdyne | Aerojet Rocketdyne photo

Green Run Tests: Artemis I Core Stage

Path to the Pad

Immediately following the successful Green Run hot fire test in March 2021, teams at Stennis Space Center began preparing the first SLS core stage to be removed from the B-2 test stand and sent to Kennedy Space Center for integration and launch. The next time the core stage fires up, it will be part of the SLS rocket launching an uncrewed Orion spacecraft on Artemis I.

Artemis Core Stage for delivery to Kennedy Space Center

Feature Stories

Path to the Pad: Florida SLS team prepares for arrival of world’s most powerful core stage

April 13, 2021 in Space

The Boeing team at Kennedy Space Center in Florida is looking forward to the arrival of the first Space Launch System core stage.

Introducing the 777X

Major Move for U.S. Return to Human Space Flight

Boeing Global Services

INNOVATION QUARTERLY:

HONORING WOMEN’S HISTORY

Presence and Partnerships

Boeing Sustainability - ESG

Join Us

Boeing HorizonX

Space Launch System