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September 10, 2020
NASA and Northrop Grumman Corporation have successfully conducted a large-scale static fire test of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket engine, known as the Flight Support Booster (FSB-1).
During the test, the 154-foot-long five-segment rocket engine fired for just over two minutes, producing 3.6 million pounds of thrust. Two SLS thrusters will provide more than 75 percent of the initial thrust for an SLS launch.
“NASA’s Artemis missions, powered by Northrop Grumman thrusters, will push the boundaries of what is possible for human exploration in space,” said Charlie Precourt, Northrop Grumman’s vice president of propulsion systems. “We have built, qualified and delivered flight hardware for Artemis I, and we are committed to continual improvement and testing of our products to provide the best robust propulsion to power NASA’s missions to the moon and beyond.”
The company developed this engine based on the flight-proven design of the space shuttle thrusters with improved technologies and updated materials to support NASA’s most powerful rocket to date. The new five-segment thruster configuration provides an average thrust 20 percent greater than shuttle thrusters, helping the SLS rocket’s ability to deliver greater mass and volume by generating greater energy output than any existing launch vehicle. .
Prior to this test, NASA and Northrop Grumman conducted a series of ground tests beginning in 2010 to satisfy the thruster’s certification requirements. FSB-1 evaluated the ballistic parameters and performance of propellant materials from new sources, an upgrade to allow the propellant to meet the high performance demands of SLS.
Northrop Grumman has delivered the first set of rocket engine segments for Artemis I thrusters. The second set of engines for Artemis II thrusters is nearing completion and the rocket engine segments for Artemis III are in production. The materials tested in today’s test could be used in post-Artemis III missions.
From the first lunar lander to the space shuttle boosters, to supplying life-load to the International Space Station, Northrop Grumman has pioneered new products and ideas that have been put into orbit, on the moon and in space. deep for more than 50 years. As a major contributor to NASA’s Artemis program, the company builds on its mission legacy with new innovations to enable NASA to return humans to the moon, with the ultimate goal of human exploration of Mars.
