Jay Clemens
Orbital ATK has completed the ground test for NASA’s rocket booster as part of efforts to qualify the system for missions to thrust the agency’s Space Launch System and the Orion spacecraft into space.
During the test conducted at Orbital ATK’s Promontory, Utah-based facility, the rocket booster fired for the same span of time required to lift the SLS off the launch pad, NASA said Wednesday.
“The work being done around the country today to build SLS is laying a solid foundation for future exploration missions, and these missions will enable us to pioneer far into the solar system,” said William Gerstenmaier, NASA’s associate administrator for human exploration and operations.
The test at Orbital ATK’s facility was meant to measure more than 531 instrumentation channels on the booster in order to assess the design, internal motor insulation, liner and the nozzle design.
The flight booster hardware will be shipped to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the first SLS flight once final testing is completed.
NASA plans to conduct a cold-temperature test targeting the low end of the propellant temperature range in early 2016 following months of testing for the booster’s performance at the highest end of the accepted temperature range.
