Boeing +share SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM NASA’s Space Launch System is the most powerful rocket ever built, the backbone for a permanent human presence in deep space. Its first Boeing-built core stage has finished a series of major tests known as Green Run, and been delivered to Kennedy Space Center. THE ROCKET GREEN RUN TESTS PATH TO THE PAD FEATURE STORIES MISSIONS CORE STAGE CAPABILITY VIDEOS GALLERY CUSTOMER 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 first person of color 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 has been 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. Green Run Tests: Artemis I Core Stage B-2: Test Stand Test 1: Modal Test Test 2: Avionics Test 3: Fail-Safes Test 4: Propulsion Test 5: Thrust Vector Controls Test 6: Countdown Test 7: Wet Dress Rehearsal Test 8: Hot Fire Path to the Pad After the first SLS core stage successfully completed its Green Run hot fire test, teams at Stennis Space Center refurbished it, removed it from the B-2 test stand, and sent it to Kennedy Space Center for integration and launch. Inside Kennedy’s iconic Vehicle Assembly Building, NASA and industry teams will stack the different elements of the rocket on top of its mobile launcher. The building and the mobile launcher have been specially outfitted to accommodate SLS and the Orion spacecraft. See how the Artemis I core stage was prepared for delivery from Stennis to Kennedy. Feature Stories A Space Launch System guide to the galaxy October 21, 2021 in Space NASA’s Space Launch System, or SLS, was designed and built by American industry to be a super-heavy-lift, deep space rocket, able to open the solar system and interstellar space to human exploration. LEARN MORE Artemis, part 2 August 25, 2021 in Space The 2nd Space Launch System rocket’s core stage advances in Louisiana as its in-space stage arrives in Florida. LEARN MORE Shields up! Spray foam evolving to protect NASA SLS July 14, 2021 in Space Boeing has evolved the Space Launch System Thermal Protection System to accommodate the deep space rocket’s size, complexity and extreme environment. LEARN MORE Missions SLS will launch a permanent human presence in deep space. Its flexibility and evolvability will support diverse exploration, science and security missions. On the Artemis I test flight, SLS will launch an uncrewed Orion spacecraft to the moon to test the performance of the integrated system. Additional missions are planned with this NASA SLS Block 1 configuration and its 27 metric ton launch payload capability to Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) beyond Earth orbit, as the even more powerful Block 1B version is designed and built. This upgraded two-stage configuration will provide NASA with lift capability of 42 metric tons to TLI beyond Earth orbit, using the Boeing-built Exploration Upper Stage. That’s almost three times the lift power to TLI as any other rocket. Boeing has delivered flight hardware for the first Artemis mission and is producing flight hardware for Artemis II and beyond. Learn more about Space Launch System mission capability. Core Stage 101 Videos Space Launch System Gallery 012 Space Launch System Customer NASA is Boeing’s customer for the core stage, upper stages and flight avionics of Space Launch System — America’s rocket — which will support the Artemis moon missions and make the next generation of human spaceflight possible. Boeing is committed to NASA’s Artemis program and to the National Space Council’s vision for continued American leadership and international partnerships in space. The Boeing SLS Program is managed out of the company’s Space and Launch division in Huntsville, Alabama, and employs Boeing’s workforce in Huntsville, at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, and at other Boeing sites and with suppliers across the country. The Boeing Exploration Launch Systems office supports NASA on strategy and policy for Space Exploration programs procured by the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. 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