WHAT IS A SPACE LAUNCHER?

Space launchers are rockets that carry payloads into space. Just as there are many sizes of truck to carry different goods from place to place, there are many different space launchers, each suited to different purposes. Rockets such as the Mercury-Atlas were designed to be small and light, as they only had to carry one man. Russia’s Soyuz series are incredibly powerful, able to carry 20 tonnes into a low-Earth orbit. NASA’s Saturn V was designed to be powerful enough to carry three men to the Moon.

NASA’s Space Launch System, or SLS, is an advanced launch vehicle that provides the foundation for human exploration beyond Earth’s orbit. With its unprecedented power and capabilities, SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts and large cargo to the Moon on a single mission.

Offering more payload mass, volume capability and energy to speed missions through space than any current launch vehicle, SLS is designed to be flexible and evolvable and will open new possibilities for payloads, including robotic scientific missions to places like the Moon, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter.

Engineers are making progress toward delivering the first SLS rocket to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for its first launch.

Picture Credit : Google