NASA Plans Maiden Flight of SLS/Orion for February
by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor
NASA announced on Friday that the space agency is planning to long-delayed maiden flight of its massive Space Launch System (SLS) during a 15-day window in February. The rocket will send an uncrewed Orion spacecraft on flight test around the moon.
The launch window will last from Feb. 12 to Feb. 27, officials said. A flight will last six weeks if it is launched during the first half of the window and four weeks during the second half. If the flight doesn’t take place during that window, another one would open up two weeks later in March.
Officials announced the schedule a day after engineers completed stacking the first SLS/Orion system at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The rocket and spacecraft are 322 feet (98.1 meters) tall.
“With stacking and integration of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft complete, we’re getting closer and closer to embarking on a new era of human deep space exploration,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a press release. “Thanks to the team’s hard work designing, manufacturing, testing, and now completing assembly of NASA’s new rocket and spacecraft, we’re in the home stretch of preparations for the first launch on the Artemis I mission, paving the way to explore the Moon, Mars, and beyond for many years to come.”
The schedule calls for the vehicle to be rolled out to Pad 39B by the end of the year, with a full wet rehearsal of the launch conducted in early January.
The February launch will be the second flight for the Orion spacecraft, which flew an uncrewed mission in Earth orbit in December 2014. Orion was launched aboard an United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
The 2014 flight featured only the Orion crew capsule. The launch in February will be the first flight to include the European Service Module (ESM), which is being provided by the European Space Agency (ESA). The module was adapted from the Automated Transfer Vehicle, a now-retired spacecraft that resupplied the International Space Station.
A successful flight would be a major milestone for the SLS and Orion programs, which have suffered years of delays and multi-billion cost overruns. Critics have decried the projects as boondoggles that should have been canceled years ago in favor of commercial alternatives.
If the February flight goes well, NASA plans to launch SLS/Orion with a four-member crew to the moon in 2023. It would be the first human flight beyond low Earth orbit since the Apollo 17 moon landing mission in December 1972.
NASA has plans to land two astronauts at the south pole of the moon in 2024 as part of the Artemis program. The space agency awarded a contract earlier this year to SpaceX to develop the Human Landing System that will take the astronauts to and from the surface.
47 responses to “NASA Plans Maiden Flight of SLS/Orion for February”
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2022 will be the year of heavy lift. Good luck to all the heavy lifters in the making. I’m hoping we might see the new New Glenn out on the pad next year too. So one maybe two SLS launches next year and who knows how many Starship flights. Certainly we can assume more than two. Lot’s of options, let’s see how they’re used.
I doubt we’ll see New Glenn launch next year, but I’d love to be proved wrong.
So do you have similar doubts about Vulcan? In other words you think the BE-4 is in much deeper trouble than what Bruno indicated? I’m running under the assumption that the BE-4’s problem set has not been expanding in 2021 and that this year has seen progress on what I assume to be a fixed problem set. As such it will fly on Vulcan at least this year. Also, once BE-4 is ready, New Glenn should start converging towards its first flight.
Vulcan will fly next year I guess SLS and probably Starship, although musk is not claiming Nov…he left himself an out with the feds
Wonder if SpaceX might test fly a Super Heavy prototype by itself in a return to launch site sub-orbital flight. Quite sure they can knock together a workable nose cone for it.
AIUI it should be within the perimeters of the current allowable sub-orbital test flight regime.
I thought that was what the second half of summer ’21 was going to be about. I thought they’d have the 2nd stage firmly flown and known by this time with the TPS and reentry understood.
They’re doing pretty good for making it all up as they go along. But, like you said, lots and lots of moving parts that have to work together. I put Musk’s Starship flight forecasts in the same category as NASA’s SLS flight forecasts…totally suspect. But I sure am enjoying the show. Can’t wait to see those chopsticks start chopping.
When the launch pad grabs a hovering booster it just launched, …. That’s going to be EPIC!!!! A real unique contribution to spaceflight even more unique than the hover slam.
I am fascinated to see that work as wwell. fly safe
It would be a good way to test the catch arms of the tower.
I just dont think Musk wants to do that. I think he wants to take the entire thing out for a drive 🙂
There’s still a lot of subsystems going on the booster, the Starship, and the pad. From what I’ve gathered on the YouTube fanboy news circuit, the water deluge for the Super Heavy seems to be not ready. Lot’s of stuff missing still. Blame the feds all you want, I still think SS/SH won’t fly until ’22 and that’s due to the difficulty of the task. Heck I watched 2 tiles fall of ship 20 after yesterdays burp test. Can you imagine what will happen on ascent to orbit? Lots of work to be done yet.
I am just saying what Musk is saying. I dont think it flies till sometime next year actually I doubt SLS does either I mean latter next year
Musk admits his dates are ‘aspirational’. I took them much more literally in the past, and Prof Matula rightly pointed this out to me. If they fly when they’re really ready the time rate change of things getting slapped onto boosters, starships, and pads will settle down to a crawl, or maybe even go static. That’s what I’m looking for to indicate a launch attempt is near.
They also seem to be working issues with the Raptors given how they keep changing them out. Work also seems to be going on in terms of building the new SpaceX factory in McGregor for the Raptors. Definitely lots of activities going on to get ready for flight. And then there is the FAA AST decision hanging over him.
Yes, but what to make of that? If the current batch of raptors are throw away, do we need to see that process stop before they’re ready for flight. If you have a system that’s made to be reusable, but have left the option open to throw them away, there’s a lot you can read in and read out on that front. However, if you see new systems appearing out of nowhere, then you know the system is incomplete in its readiness for flight.
I caught 1.5 of the pubic comment meetings. I appreciated the resident who asked who’s going to pay for his broken windows given the fact that his windows almost break with just 3 raptors going. I think a Benny Hill style speedup of the history of SpaceX on Boca Chica might come out looking a bit like Saigon 1975 with a retreat to the sea. A point you’ve been making for some time.
a guess is that the raptors are like the booster still a work in progress
It’s the basis of the software engineering approach of constant improvement based on experience.
It took them over a decade to finally freeze the Falcon 9 design with the release of Falcon 9 5.0 and that was only because it was replaced by Starship beta. ?
I grew out of being a fan boy with the shuttle and DCX …and about 20 years ago learned an important lesson about Space and humans and the like. I guess more than anything else make the farm a success and succeeding in private business taught me more then I ever learned from the general rah rah
Musk is as much a “carny barker” as NASA and all have become what a person who went into being a preacher said about himself “I’ve been holding down the work” Yeah just doing it but never really doing much at it
and Musk is moving forward while NASA is moving no where at least with SLS.
but Musk tends to overstate his case significantly and the fan boys tend to grab hold of that…as if its a mtter of religion
Musk will make something of Starship what I dont know, but its a decade plus away and who knows he might move on to something else…in a few years based on the experience he gains
but I share with you a simple statment that my grandfather told me when he gave me the farm. “at the end of the day, its all about doing things that put more folding money in your pocket, or it will soon be about doing something completely different”
see how it all works out
Yes, which is currently the story with Starlink which SpaceX is rolling out in beta now.
One could argue that the software approach was how aircraft were once developed, for example the P-36 becoming the P-40 (while the P-42 failed) and the several iterations the B-17 went through from the Model 299 to the B-17G, so replacing simulations with testing is just returning to what worked before.
I view Elon Musk not as a fan but from the perspective of the traits that have made him successful in spaceflight, which is hiring quality workers and pushing them always forward which takes, as you note, being a cheerleader to keep them inspired.
I have little problem with his approach. if you just look at the dollar value over a decade or os…SLS has consumed what 20 plus billion to achieve mediocrity or fail at it. by the time starship development is all over with Musk will probably consume at least a decade and have pushed the up the hill some.
how much? it will be substantially less then what he is claiming…but it will be significant and will probably enable the next economic development step in space which is mega constellations of some number
what it does for human spaceflight depends in large measure if it lowers the bar to the point where there can be an economic breakthrough in space that somehow involves humans
its all the economics. SLS simply has consumed money
And it will likely be just a matter of time before that money runs out given the huge national debt and rate of government spending which has gone from the traditional 20% of the GDP to 30% of the GDP. while the national debt is now 135% of the GDP. By comparison Sweden’s ratio of government spending to GDP is around 25%, the highest in Europe.
the spending is the only thing that is keeping the music going.
I am not an economist nor do I play one on TV…but I do understand the politics of it. we can neither get spending under control nor taxing at a level to make the spending work…
SLS is a pretty good example of where most of that spending is going. to things that are virtually useless
The other thing about aircraft development in the days of yore is that there was always someone on your six. I count at least 5 fighters by five different American companies in the USAAF, Successful that is, many more that were dropped such as the P-36 and P-35. Then the Navy fielded 3 more fighters by 2 companies. Also not including failures like the Brewster Buffalo or the late-to-the-party ones like the Bearcat. And that’s before you get to the foreign competition that expressed displeasure with cannon fire instead of canceled contracts.
Right now Elon and SpaceX are the top dog. I have to wonder how much of that is due to the dismal performance of much of the rest of the industry. As in, the P-40 would have been a fantastic plane—-if there were no such thing as North American Aviation, Republic, Lockheed, oh and Mitsubishi and Messerschmitt.
American space industry desperately needs more players in the field. Unfortunately, several players with serious capability could overwhelm the market just when they need to recoup investment. High demand in year 5 is just a bitter pill if you went under in year 4. Major players will need to be ones that can afford to gamble and lose while still holding on.
The Raptors leveraged the experience gained with the Merlins, but they are expected to be as reliable as the engines of jet aircraft, at least that is what Elon Musk seems to want for his fuel and go turnarounds. So I expect they will be a lot more fussing over them. And this is the time to do it, before the new factory gears up to mass produce them.
Not surprised, sound waves that strong will carry far, which is why he should have gone to the old USAF base to build his system. The Falcon 9 is a toy compared to this system. I expected he will be forced offshore sooner than he thinks. Hopefully the modifications to those oil rigs will be ready soon.
reliable as jet engines. yeah when I hear him say that I smile. its aspirational
Yes it is a very aspirational goal given the extreme stresses on large rocket engines, but even failing to meet it should move the technology forward.
That said, the ME-163 used to fly multiple missions a day during WWII with only a quick refueling between flights while more recently XCOR had that ability with its EZ-Rocket. Both however were much smaller and simpler engines.
Exactly. Not happening anytime soon. Which means 1 hour turnaround won’t be happening either .
Yep, it’s the old glue problem that the Shuttle had. It will be interesting to see how SpaceX deals with it.
It’s interesting, but based on the comments no one here seems to care about the SLS/Orion…
its a dead end no matter where it goes. if it has a problem that will unhinge the agency and Nelson
But what could go wrong? It’s using 40 year old technology for the launch vehicle with engines that flew repeatedly on the old Shuttle while the Orion has been in development for 15 years. Surly there will be no surprises on the first flight with that track record…
What could go wrong????? Rhetorical I’m sure as anyone on this list could think of dozens. First flight and infant mortality for starters. Spending ten years on a two year project for another with taking too long on a project is only somewhat safer that too fast.
Either way it will be killing a large number of fish and other sea life with the toxic exhaust of the SRBs. So where is the outrage by the environmentalists and lawsuits?
Really, they are upset with Elon Musk dropping some non-toxic steel in a swamp and overlook what NASA has been doing for decades. Typical double-standard when it comes to environmental activists.
As with all things with environmentalists, along with social justice people, vocal native peoples, and many other groups, it’s not about the actual issues at all. It’s about optics and hidden agendas. None of this ever happened before social media. Or at least not nearly as often.
I dont think most environmentalist see SLS as having much of a future
well as Redneck noted or to paraphrase…one can count the ways
I dont know how much the 6 months I spent consulting on my soon to end project…had to do with me getting my next job. but the difficult part of any project is “looking for the unknown” because it rarely reveals itself other then in moments of stress
as my current boss likes to say “you are the only person I know of who liked the Lone Ranger movie” (and I did enormously…I guess well its the score and the chase at the end I thought whats her name did a great job…) but really its t he residue of the notion of the Ranger. its the legend particularly if you are born into it (my great and grand father wore the broken wheel star) …
the legend of the shuttle program is not good. its programs that go to long, dont look for the unknown and really tend to rely to much of endless simulations and computer stuff
I find the clash between SLS and Musk fascinating because I think that they are at both ends of the seesaw. but “at least” Musk’s end is in the future. SLS is deeply rooted in the past in all ways. it should fly, but really anything ANYTHING is possible
decades ago my partner and I with the USMS stumbled into a pretty massive gunfight at the Phoenix airport. neither of us had body armor and in my case I got into a shoot out with automatic weapons against a former Arizona IPSC champion.
we were both running out of ammunition blazing away at each other…finally he started running from one end of a baggage cart train that we had been exchanging fire on. I stood up and ordered him to stop. he turned faster then I expected and pulled the trigger…he was empty magazine on his Uzi…
he had his 9mm in a speed holster and I knew I had made a big mistake.by losing cover..he threw the Uzi down and I yelled at him “you dont get lucky twice” and he went for his weapon. my Thompson had a clip with three rounds in it
there is a great chance that somewhere in both te old and new technology there is a RUD waiting. the difference is progress.
8 days to leave for Seattle.. 2 more days on the P8 project here. I’ve learned a great deal
Musk gambling is the best of us. SLS is the worst
Any particular reason why people that care about space should care about SLS?
Because it’s NASA, the “Great and Powerful” agency of space!?
Other than certain Congressional Critters. No one wants to pay $1.5B+ for a launch vehicle that have a maximum annual flight rate of one. If you added the dated Orion to the stack that is at least another $1B. It is simply not affordable for any sustainable human spaceflight program.
Hrm…
Isn’t that during the coldest seasonal weather in Florida? Not a happy time for some Shuttle flights, and the SLS is a Shuttle-derived launch vehicle…
SLS delenda est
The weather issue with the shuttle Columbia was the ice falling off the External Tank and smashing a panel on the orbiter’s wing. There are no wings for it to damage here when it falls off.
The Challenger accident also was related to cold weather with the freezing of the O-Rings in the SRB, but that problem was solved with the joints being redesigned, a design lesson hopefully carried over to the new five segment expendable SRB being used.
What you need to worry about is if Lockheed’s Orion Abort system, the first steerable solid rocket according to NASA, shows some cold weather quirks, which would make the jettison interesting.
I know the history. Cold weather seems to bring out the worst of the Shuttle System, so to me it just seems unlucky to tempt fate again with the first test flight of the SLS.
SLS delenda est
its not their best operating conditions…fly safe
At least there won’t be any astronauts aboard.
Elon Musk is saying that he could do the orbital launch in a month or so if the FAA approves. Good luck with that. If the FAA decides a new EIS is needed it could take a couple of years to get approval. I expect if that happens he will just go offshore and apply for a new license, or perhaps find a new site to launch from where a EIS is easier to do.
https://www.space.com/elon-…
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