List of Space Launch System launches
{{Short description|List of launches of the Space Launch System rocket, including planned and proposed launches}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2019}}
{{asof|2023|January}}, the Space Launch System (SLS) – a Shuttle-derived, super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle – has conducted one successful launch, and a further four have been officially scheduled.{{cite conference |last1=Lueders |first1=Kathryn |last2=Free |first2=Jim |url=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/1-18-2022_heo-integrated-nac_lueders-free1.pdf |title=NASA Advisory Council HEO Committee Public Meeting |page=16 |conference=NAC/HEO CMTE 2022 |publisher=NASA |date=18 January 2022 |access-date=20 January 2022}} All flights on the current launch manifest are for the Artemis program, a human spaceflight project aimed at establishing a permanent human presence on the Moon. The flights will launch from the vehicle's dedicated pad at Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39B (LC-39B). The first three flights use the Block 1 configuration with a modified Delta Cryogenic Second Stage known as the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS). The Block 1B configuration with the Exploration Upper Stage (EUS) will be used starting from the fourth flight.{{cite web |last=Foust |first=Jeff |url=https://spacenews.com/nasa-foresees-gap-in-lunar-landings-after-artemis-3/ |title=NASA foresees gap in lunar landings after Artemis 3 |work=SpaceNews |date=20 January 2022 |access-date=20 January 2022}}
Launches
{{SLS launches/future}}
Proposed launches
{{Further|Space Launch System#Usage beyond Artemis}}
=Later Artemis missions=
In early 2019, then-Associate Administrator for Human Exploration William H. Gerstenmaier drafted a proposal for three more launches of SLS Block 1B launch vehicles beyond Artemis 5 in support of the Artemis program. These include two crewed launches of the Orion spacecraft.{{cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/05/nasas-full-artemis-plan-revealed-37-launches-and-a-lunar-outpost/ |title=NASA's full Artemis plan revealed: 37 launches and a lunar outpost|last=Berger|first=Eric|publisher=Ars Technica|access-date=23 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190523032200/https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/05/nasas-full-artemis-plan-revealed-37-launches-and-a-lunar-outpost/|archive-date=23 May 2019|date=20 May 2019|quote=NASA's "notional" plan for a human return to the Moon by 2024, and an outpost by 2028.|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Foust|first=Jeff|title=NASA Has a Full Plate of Lunar Missions Before Astronauts Can Return to Moon|url=https://www.space.com/nasa-moon-missions-before-2024.html|publisher=Space.com|access-date=25 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190525032714/https://www.space.com/nasa-moon-missions-before-2024.html|archive-date=25 May 2019|date=24 May 2019|quote=A NASA infographic shows the proposed timeline for landing astronauts on the moon in 2024 and building a sustained human presence on the lunar surface and in orbit by 2028. [...] After Artemis 3, NASA would launch four additional crewed missions to the lunar surface between 2025 and 2028.|url-status=live}}
=Non-Artemis missions=
In 2012, Skylab II was proposed by an engineer working with NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. It would use the EUS hydrogen tank to build a 21st-century version of Skylab.{{cite web |author=Hammonds |first=Markus |date=April 14, 2013 |title=Skylab II:Living Beyond the Dark Side of the Moon |url=http://news.discovery.com/space/private-spaceflight/skylab-ii-living-beyond-the-dark-side-of-the-moon-130414.htm |publisher=Discovery}}{{cite web |date=30 March 2012 |title=Deep Space Habitat module concepts outlined for BEO exploration |url=http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2012/03/dsh-module-concepts-outlined-beo-exploration/ |access-date=2017-03-30 |website=NASASpaceFlight.com}}{{cite web |author=Morring Jr. |first=Frank |date=October 22, 2012 |title=NASA Deep-Space Program Gaining Focus |url=http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/AW_10_22_2012_p34-507657.xml |access-date=2017-03-30 |publisher=Aviation Week & Space Technology}}
SLS was considered as a potential launch vehicle for the proposed Large UV Optical Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR) space telescope, which will have a main segmented mirror between 8 and 16 meters in diameter,{{Cite journal |last=Stahl |first=H. Philip |last2=Hopkins |first2=Randall C. |date=2015-08-09 |title=SLS Launched Missions Concept Studies for LUVOIR Mission |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20150018127 |journal=International Society for Optical Engineering}} making it 300 times more powerful than Hubble Space Telescope.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=July 31, 2017 |title=The Space Launch System—the most powerful rocket ever built |url=https://phys.org/news/2017-07-space-systemthe-powerful-rocket-built.html |access-date= |website=Universe Today |via=PhysOrg}} It would be deployed at the Earth-Sun L2 point in 2035.{{cite news|title=NASA Considers Its Next Flagship Space Telescope|first=Sarah|last=Scoles|journal=Scientific American|date=March 30, 2016|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasa-considers-its-next-flagship-space-telescope/|access-date=August 15, 2017}}
Proposals by Bigelow Aerospace, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK, Sierra Nevada Corporation, Space Systems Loral, and Nanoracks to build the Deep Space Habitat – a spacecraft with a large enough living space for humans to travel to destinations such as Mars, near Earth asteroids, or cislunar space – all envisioned a launch aboard an SLS vehicle.[https://www.engadget.com/2017/04/04/boeing-deep-space-habitat-transport-concept-images/ Boeing's deep space habitat could be home for Mars astronauts] Mariella Moon, Engadget April 4, 2017
The proposed Europa Lander, formerly part of the Europa Clipper mission, was proposed to be launched aboard an SLS in the mid-2010s.[http://spacenews.com/jpl-moves-ahead-with-mars-and-europa-missions-despite-funding-uncertainty/ JPL moves ahead with Mars and Europa missions despite funding uncertainty] Jeff Foust July 18, 2017 The joint NASA-ESA Titan Saturn System Mission proposal envisioned the SLS as an option for launch.{{cite web |last=Creech |first=Stephen |date=April 2014 |title=NASA's Space Launch System: A Capability for Deep Space Exploration |url=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/Creech_SLS_Deep_Space.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307231643/https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/Creech_SLS_Deep_Space.pdf |archive-date=March 7, 2016 |access-date=2016-01-15 |website=NASA}} {{PD-notice}} On 10 February 2021, it was announced that Europa Clipper would not launch aboard an SLS.[https://spacenews.com/nasa-to-use-commercial-launch-vehicle-for-europa-clipper/ NASA to use commercial launch vehicle for Europa Clipper] Jeff Foust February 10, 2021 In July 2021, NASA booked a SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch for Europa Clipper at a price of $178 million.{{cite press release|last=Potter|first=Sean|url=https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-awards-launch-services-contract-for-europa-clipper-mission|title=NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for the Europa Clipper Mission|publisher=NASA|date=23 July 2021|access-date=23 July 2021}} {{PD-notice}} In addition to being much cheaper to launch, the Europa Clipper spacecraft would not need expensive structural modification to handle vibrational loads caused by the SLS's solid rocket boosters. The total cost savings was estimated at US$2 billion, but Europa Clipper will need three years longer to reach Jupiter on account of the smaller Falcon Heavy launcher.{{cite news|publisher=Ars Technica|title=SpaceX to launch the Europa Clipper mission for a bargain price|url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/07/spacex-to-launch-the-europa-clipper-mission-for-a-bargain-price|date= July 23, 2021|access-date=August 12, 2021}}
The SLS was proposed by Boeing as a launch vehicle for a Uranus probe concept developed by NASA. The rocket would "deliver a small payload into orbit around Uranus and a shallow probe into the planet's atmosphere". The mission would study the Uranian atmosphere, magnetic and thermal characteristics, gravitational harmonics, as well as do flybys of Uranian moons.{{cite web |author=Gebhardt |first=Chris |date=November 20, 2013 |title=New SLS mission options explored via new Large Upper Stage |url=http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/11/new-sls-options-new-large-upper-stage |website=NASASpaceFlight.com}}{{cite web|url=http://www.boeing.com/assets/pdf/defense-space/space/sls/docs/sls_mission_booklet_jan_2014.pdf|title=Space Launch System Exploration, Science, Security|website=boeing.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923193950/http://www.boeing.com/assets/pdf/defense-space/space/sls/docs/sls_mission_booklet_jan_2014.pdf|archive-date=September 23, 2015|url-status=dead|access-date=2017-03-30}} In addition, a 2017 study suggested that a single SLS Block 1B launch vehicle could launch two spacecraft, one to each ice giant, with launch dates suggested from 2024 to 2037 followed by a four-year transit time.{{Cite report |year=2017 |title=Ice Giants Pre-Decadal Survey Report |url=https://www.lpi.usra.edu/NASA-academies-resources/full-report-ice-giants.pdf |website=NASA}} Updated versions of the proposal recommend using a Falcon Heavy instead of SLS.{{cite journal |last1=Simon |first1=Amy |last2=Nimmo |first2=Francis |last3=Anderson |first3=Richard C. |title=Journey to an Ice Giant System: Uranus Orbiter and Probe |journal=Planetary Mission Concept for the 2023–2032 Planetary Science Decadal Survey |date=7 June 2021 |url=https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Qlun6EF0v472eOMXXokHxa6B2tBLNkdv |access-date=1 May 2022 |publisher=NASA}}
See also
{{Portal|Spaceflight|United States}}
References
{{Reflist}}