These are public posts tagged with #sls. You can interact with them if you have an account anywhere in the fediverse.
Senate Lunch System:
SLS "Booster Obsolescence and Life Extension" (BOLE) SRB nozzle blows up during testing at Northrup Grumman SRB test site in Utah.
#Space #SLS #SpaceLaunchSystem #NASA
Under the #COTS model, #NASA provides funding and guidance to private companies to develop their own #spacecraft, #rockets, and #services, and then buys those at a "market" rate. #SpaceX, #BlueOrigin, #RocketLab and #ImpulseSpace could ferry cargo to #Mars and land there https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/05/if-congress-actually-cancels-the-sls-rocket-what-happens-next
Here’s what NASA’s exploration plans would actually…
Ars TechnicaThe #Mars Sample Return mission will be achieved by #human
missions to Mars. "Crew and cargo flights to the #ISS would be significantly reduced
. The station’s reduced research capacity would be focused on efforts critical to the #Moon and Mars exploration programs." https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/05/white-house-budget-seeks-to-end-sls-orion-and-lunar-gateway-programs
“SLS alone costs $4 billion per launch and is 140 percent…
Ars Technica May 02, 2025
• Increased commitment to human space exploration, introducing $1 billion in new investments for #Mars
-focused programs.
• The #SLS rocket and #Orion capsule will be retired after #Artemis III. The budget also ends the #Gateway Program
• #ISS replacement in 2030
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/president-trumps-fy26-budget-revitalizes-human-space-exploration
The Trump-Vance Administration released toplines of…
NASATo get enough fuel into #orbit for a #Mars
mission would require at least 10 launches of the #SLS rocket, or about $20 billion
. Just for the fuel. To use traditional propulsion, one needs to push the boundaries of #reuse
and heavy lift rockets to extreme limits—which is precisely what #SpaceX is trying to do with its fully reusable launch system https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/02/report-nasas-only-realistic-path-for-humans-on-mars-is-nuclear-propulsion
“It’s the kind of technology challenge that NASA was…
Ars Technica#Isaacman said #NASA’s current architecture for the #Artemis lunar plans, based on the #SLS rocket and #Orion spacecraft, is probably not the ideal “long-term” solution to NASA’s deep space transportation plans https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/04/isaacman-sls-and-orion-are-not-a-long-term-solution-for-nasa
“My loyalty is to this nation, the space agency, and…
Ars TechnicaThe #SLS project is about $6 billion over budget and six years behind schedule
, according to a #government audit, with reports suggesting it is “50-50” whether Mr Trump scraps the programme. In a city where around 10 per cent
of the 225,000 population work for the government, there is concern among residents that they could be in the eye of the #Doge storm
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/04/06/alabama-rocket-city-heart-us-space-travel-musk-doge-demise
Donald Trump’s shake-up of the federal government has…
The Telegraph#SpaceX has developed two heavy lift rockets in the last decade, and #BlueOrigin just launched #NewGlenn. Each of these rockets is at least partially reusable and flies at less than one-tenth
the cost of the #SLS rocket
https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/02/boeing-has-informed-its-employees-that-nasa-may-cancel-sls-contracts
The White House has not made a final decision yet on…
Ars TechnicaProf Logsdon* expects big changes under #Trump, Mr #Musk and Mr #Isaacman: scrapping programmes, closing NASA centres and more contracting out to #SpaceX, #BlueOrigin and other private sector firms. "There is a delicate balance between the interests of #NASA, #Congress and the #WhiteHouse."
Mr Isaacman has called the #SLS "outrageously expensive" and said that the major aerospace contractors are "incentivised to be economically #inefficient". https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn93797z2dpo
The success of SpaceX and other private-sector space…
www.bbc.comSpaceX started Starship development in 2012. Despite 12 years of work, its best test flight reached space but not orbit, sending a banana to the Indian Ocean.
While NASA's SLS began in 2011 and successfully flew around the Moon in 2022.
Blue Origin's New Glenn also started development in 2012 and reached orbit on it's first flight with an actual payload.
When they say SpaceX is fast, what do they mean exactly?
#spaceX #space #SLS #NASA #spaceflight #NewGlenn #tech #news
Giant orbital rocket size comparison.
#Space #Astrodon #BlueOrigin #NewGlenn #JeffBezos #SLS #SpaceX #Starship #ElonMusk #SaturnV
Orbital Rockets:
The largest orbital rockets.
New Glenn: Jeff Bezos's New Glenn is 7 meters in diameter. With a methalox reusable first stage and an expendable hydrolox upper stage. There's also a reusable "Project Jarvis" upper stage in developement. Target mass to LEO is 45 metric tons with reusable booster and expendable upper stage.
SpaceX Starship: Elon Musk's Starship is 9 meters in diameter. Both its methalox stages are reusable. Target mass to LEO is 150-200 metric tons.
Senate Lunch System: The US managerial class's expendable giant rocket. It has an 8.5 meter hydrolox core, a small hydrolox upper stage, and two SRBs. Mass to LEO for Block 1 is 70 metric tons. Target mass to LEO for Block 1B is 105 metric tons, for Block 2 it is 130 metric tons.
#Space #BlueOrigin #JeffBezos #SpaceX #ElonMusk #SLS #NASA
The incoming Trump administration will certainly keep #NASA's goal of landing people on the Moon, but without the budgetary burden of the #SLS rocket. https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/12/trumps-nominee-to-lead-nasa-favors-a-full-embrace-of-commercial-space
“You can get into a rhythm of using all of these providers…
Ars TechnicaIt is not easy to turn a big #bureaucracy, and there will undoubtedly be friction and pain points. But the opportunity here is enticing: #NASA should not be competing with things that private industry is already doing better, such as launching big rockets. Rather, it should find difficult research and development projects at the edge of the possible. https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/12/how-did-the-ceo-of-an-online-payments-firm-become-the-nominee-to-lead-nasa
Expect significant changes for America’s space agency.
Ars TechnicaMeasuring the Mighty Roar of SpaceX’s Starship Rocket - SpaceX’s Starship is the most powerful launch system ever built, dwarfing even the... - https://hackaday.com/2024/11/21/measuring-the-mighty-roar-of-spacexs-starship-rocket/ #spacelaunchsystem #acoustics #starship #science #spacex #space #sls
SpaceX’s Starship is the most powerful launch system…
Hackaday