At first look, NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) looks like the perfect rocket: heavy lifting launch vehicle that promises to be more versatile, powerful, and durable than anything that has preceded it. But there are major threats hanging over the rocket stacking the odds against it ever leaving the ground.
By design, SLS is pretty incredible. It’s central piece is a liquid fuelled core stage modelled off the space shuttle’s external tank. The core stage is flanked by two boosters that will enable early Block 1 and Block 1A versions of the rocket to lift 70 metric tons into Earth orbit. A small “kick” stage will give payloads on these smaller rockets the extra push for distant targets like the Moon. The later “evolved” SLS will feature a second stage that will facilitate lifting 130 metric tons into orbit. All three versions will be adaptable for manned spacecraft or cargo depending on the mission’s needs. As a point of reference, the evolved SLS will be as powerful as the Saturn V and less than 50 feet taller.
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