J.D. Harrington
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-5241
j.d.harrington@nasa.gov
Dan Kanigan
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-6849
daniel.n.kanigan@nasa.gov
RELEASE: 11-332
NASA, AEROSPACE BUSINESS LEADERS DISCUSS SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM -- NEXT U.S. HEAVY LIFT SPACECRAFT -- AT INDUSTRY DAY EVENT
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- NASA leaders met Thursday to discuss acquisition
plans for the agency's new heavy-lift rocket with hundreds of
representatives of aerospace industry companies, small businesses and
independent entrepreneurs. The rocket, known as the Space Launch
System (SLS), will take astronauts farther into space than ever
before, create high-quality jobs here at home, and provide the
cornerstone for America's future human space exploration efforts.
The Industry Day event, hosted by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center
in Huntsville, Ala., provided industry representatives with an
overview of the SLS Program and defined its near-term business
requirements, including details of NASA's acquisition strategy for
procurement of critical hardware, systems and vehicle elements.
Marshall is leading design and development of the Space Launch System
for NASA.
"This is a milestone moment for NASA, for our industry partners and
for our economy," NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver told the
group. "We at NASA have worked hard the past year to analyze and
select our Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle and space launch systems
designs."
Garver said, "The SLS heavy-lift rocket will take American astronauts
farther into space than any human has ever gone before. It will
expand our knowledge of the universe, reap benefits to improve life
on Earth, inspire millions around the world and create good jobs
right here at home."
"We're proud to be where we are today," said Marshall Center Director
Robert Lightfoot. "We've done the due diligence necessary to get to
this point -- thousands of configuration trades and studies -- and
now it's time for us to start working on the hardware."
The event was held during Marshall's quarterly Small Business Alliance
Meeting at the Davidson Center for Space Exploration, part of
Huntsville's U.S. Space & Rocket Center.
NASA announced plans for the development of the SLS in September. It
will carry NASA's Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, cargo, equipment
and science experiments to space -- providing a safe, affordable and
sustainable means of reaching the moon, asteroids and other
destinations in the solar system.
The planned vehicle will be the most powerful ever developed, evolving
to a 130-metric-ton rocket built around a core stage, which will
share common design, supplier base, avionics and advanced
manufacturing techniques with the upper stage. It will use a liquid
hydrogen and liquid oxygen propulsion system, relying on the space
shuttle's RS-25 engine for the core stage and the J-2X engine for the
upper stage. Dual, five-segment solid rocket boosters mounted to the
sides of the tank will provide additional power. The design of the
dual boosters on later flights will be determined through competition
based on cost, performance and interface requirements.
The Space Launch System builds on the legacies of the Saturn rocket,
space shuttle and Ares development efforts. It will take advantage of
proven hardware and cutting-edge tooling and manufacturing
technologies to significantly reduce development and operations
costs. This strategy will help NASA maintain the development pace
necessary to launch the first, full-scale test flight by late 2017.
For more information about SLS, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/sls For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov
