Naomi Cooper
Northrop Grumman has completed the first booster obsolescence and life extension motor segment for NASA’s Space Launch System solid rocket booster ahead of its demonstration test set for late 2024.
The company said Monday the BOLE adds nearly five metric tons of payload capacity to the next SLS configuration, Block 2, compared to the SLS Block 1B configuration scheduled to fly on Artemis IV.
The next-generation BOLE booster features carbon fiber technology and a weight-saving composite case and generates 11 percent more total impulse than the existing five-segment solid rocket boosters.
SLS Block 2 will use the new solid rocket boosters for Artemis IX and succeeding lunar exploration missions.
The BOLE is set to undergo a full-scale static test where all its five segments will be fired horizontally in a test bay.
In December 2021, Northrop secured a potential 10-year, $3.19 billion contract from NASA to produce and operate SLS solid rocket boosters for the Artemis program.
