The SLS Saga: 2020 Early Spring Project Update
Artemis-1’s Core Stage and the SLS assembly team at Michoud (Courtesy of NASA)
“Turning, turning, turning through the years.”
***2020’s start of the year update on the SLS Program. For additional posts, please visit the SLS Saga microsite here.***
With a new decade upon us, it is time for another look at the SLS Program. Much has happened since our last update with the SLS rocket achieving significant milestones and related NASA programs also experiencing new developments.
Core Stage on the Move
After successfully passing several structural tests—including being pushed to 260% of expected flight load before rupturing—a completed SLS core stage has been transported by barge from SLS’s assembly facility in New Orleans, Louisiana to the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Over the summer, the core stage will face the critical Green Run Test: the “first full test of all the SLS core stage flight hardware.” If the test goes well, the core stage will then be shipped to the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. Here, it will be fully assembled into the SLS rocket with the attachment of two side boosters, an upper stage, and the Orion crew capsule. Then, the SLS rocket will be primed and ready for its maiden voyage via the Artemis-1 mission.
Artemis-1 delayed to 2021
However, Artemis-1 is likely to slip again from its current late 2020 launch date to a 2021 projected launch. Artemis-1, the first planned mission of the SLS Program, will serve as an unmanned test of SLS’s capabilities for deep space exploration. During Artemis Day, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine confirmed this delay by noting that “it’s looking like 2021 might be in the cards for the first Artemis mission.” However NASA’s Orion program manager, Mark Kirasich, explained that the November 2020 launch date is still technically feasible but have no margins for delays. While any slip in Artemis-1’s launch date will likely affect the schedule for later missions, Administrator Bridenstine is confident that NASA can still launch Artemis-2 on the original timeline. But, bringing the entire Artemis program back on schedule could be a significant challenge; NASA will have to work hard to achieve its current goal of returning to the Moon by 2024 on Artemis-3. In my opinion, the wild card here is really on how fast NASA can make SLS’s second Mobile Launch Platform operational.
The First Artemis Class Graduates
Although SLS might be encountering delays, the Artemis Program is moving full steam ahead. Earlier this month, Artemis’s first class of astronauts officially graduated. Known as the Turtles, these 11 NASA astronauts and 2 Canadian Space Agency astronauts have completed a grueling two-year course and are now eligible for spaceflight missions. This brings NASA’s corps of active astronauts to forty-eight and active Canadian astronauts to four. It is likely that the first woman to land on the Moon will come from this class of astronauts which is made up of six women and seven men.
NASA: SLS is a Necessity
With so many delays with the SLS Program, many have been calling the program’s existence into question. Adding fuel to the flame, NASA Administrator Bridenstine even discussed the possibility of launching Artemis-1 on commercial rockets rather than a SLS rocket early last year. As Artemis-1 has always been envisioned as the grand debut of the SLS rocket, this news sent shockwaves across the industry. But recently, NASA has been carefully walking back from the ramifications of that statement. The new head of NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, Doug Loverro, stated during a NASA townhall in December 2019 that the SLS Program is “absolutely mandatory” in getting United States back to the Moon. With so many jobs on the line and billions spent, it is likely that even if NASA ever wants to get rid of the SLS rocket, Congress will never let the program die.
SLS’s FY 2020 Budget
Speaking of which, Congressional support for the SLS Program remains strong in NASA’s latest fiscal year budget. Of the approximate $22.6 billion allocated for NASA, around $6 billion is devoted to Exploration, the functional area that the SLS Program belongs. Of that roughly $6 billion, the SLS Program received about $2.6 billion. This translates to about 43% of the Exploration budget or more than 10% of the NASA’s overall budget. Related to the SLS Program, Congress also went against the Trump administration in two aspects. While the Trump administration was hoping to temporarily defund the Exploration Upper Stage (“EUS”), Congress disagreed. Although EUS is not a required component for SLS’s initial configuration, block 1, Congress provided $3 million in funding for NASA to continue EUS’s development. Second, even though the Trump administration wanted flexibility to launch the Europa Clipper mission on a commercial rocket, the Congressional mandate for Europa Clipper to fly on SLS continues. In fact, Congress promulgated the SLS launch vehicle requirement to the follow-on Europa lander mission as well. However, the required launch dates for these two missions have both been extended by 2 years to 2025 and 2027 respectively.
