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<\/p>\nNASA has initialized plans via a letter contract with Northrop Grumman for 12 additional Solid Rocket Boosters, or SRBs, for the agency\u2019s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket \u2014 a pending contract with a potential value of $49.5 million USD.<\/p>\n
In the letter contract, the agency will \u201cprovide initial funding and authorization\u201d to Northrop Grumman to begin ordering components, including long-lead items, for the 12 additional SRBs that will support Artemis 4 through Artemis 9. <\/p>\n
The finalized contract between NASA and Northrop Grumman will be worked out \u201cwithin the next year\u201d and will extend both booster construction and operations through 31 December 2030.<\/p>\n
The 12 additional SRBs will provide NASA with enough boosters for six additional SLS missions, including Artemis 4 through Artemis 9. Previously, NASA had only contracted Northrop Grumman for six SRBs, which will fly on Artemis 1 through Artemis 3.<\/p>\n
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SLS solid rocket boosters travel by rail from Promontory, Utah to NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center. Photo Credit: NASA\/ Northrop Grumman.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis initial step ensures that NASA can build the boosters needed for future Space Launch System rockets that will be needed for the Artemis missions to explore the Moon,\u201d said John Honeycutt, SLS Program Manager at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, NASA contracted Aerojet Rocketdyne to manufacture 18 additional RS-25 engines. \u201cWe\u2019ve already begun production on the first six new RS-25 engines,\u201d said Johnny Heflin, engines manager.<\/p>\n
Northrop Grumman recently delivered the 10 propellant segments for both of the Artemis 1 SRBs to NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center.<\/p>\n
SpaceX launch tickets (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n The boosters for the first flight of SLS are made up of flight-proven casings left over from the Space Shuttle Program. Those ten casings previously supported STS-131, STS-38, and STS-93 to name a few.<\/p>\n STS-93 is famous for being the first Space Shuttle mission commanded by a woman, Eileen Collins. The mission successfully launched the Chandra X-Ray Observatory into orbit (the heaviest payload ever flown by a Shuttle), but not before a golden pin was knocked loose and created a hydrogen leak inside one of Columbia\u2019s RS-25 engines during ascent.<\/p>\n The launch of STS-93\/Columbia. Some components of the two SRBs used on this flight will support the Artemis 1 launch next year. (Credit: NASA)<\/p>\n The SRBs which will fly on the SLS are made up of five segments instead of four, the previous configuration used by the Space Shuttle.<\/p>\n Another major difference between the SRBs used on Shuttle and the ones that will power SLS for the first two minutes of flight is recovery. The Shuttle boosters parachuted into the Atlantic for recovery, disassembly, inspection, and reuse.<\/p>\n SLS\u2019s five segment SRBs will be fully expendable because it is now cheaper to build new composite casings each time than it is to recover, refurbish, and reuse the existing case stock.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, Northrop Grumman plans to use the left-over stockpile of SRB components before completely transitioning to new builds \u2014 something that will be needed for the new contract.<\/p>\n The five-segment solid rocket booster variant originated from NASA\u2019s Constellation Program, which featured two launch vehicles, the Ares-I and the Ares-V. The Ares-I would have featured one five-segment SRB as its first stage, but the program was cancelled after the Augustine Commission and a loss of funding.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/99pp0956-scaled-1.jpg\")
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