Ramona Adams
Orbital ATK has finished a qualification test on the avionics system of solid rocket boosters that the company is producing for NASA‘s Space Launch System.
The test series validated the avionics system’s performance in expected and abnormal conditions as well as the platform’s capacity to start booster ignition, control the booster during flight and terminate the flight, Orbital ATK said Wednesday.
SLS’ avionics system is built to initiate booster ignition, communicate with the rocket’s launch vehicle computers during flight and begin booster separation after the first stage burn.
Orbital ATK will deliver two five-segment rocket boosters for each of the scheduled launches of SLS, dubbed Exploration Mission-1 and Exploration Mission-2.
The boosters are designed to provide initial thrust for the first two minutes of SLS’ flight.
SLS is a heavy-lift rocket that is currently being developed to transport crew and cargo to deep space destinations such as Mars.
