Northrop Grumman has delivered ten booster motor segments that will be built into NASA’s Artemis II Space Launch System rocket.
The components, which will make up the twin solid rocket boosters of SLS, arrived by rail at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, NASA announced.
The motors are the largest parts of the solid rocket boosters, which are expected to generate 75 percent of the SLS’ total thrust at liftoff.
NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program teams will process each of the motor segments at the KSC rotation, processing and surge facility before integrating them at the vehicle assembly building.
“The arrival of the SLS solid rocket booster motor segments is an important turning point as NASA and our Artemis partners begin readying for stacking and launch preparations for Artemis II,” said Amit Kshatriya, deputy associate administrator for the Moon to Mars Program Office at NASA Headquarters.
Kshatriya went on to note that the boosters will be “the largest, most powerful ever built for spaceflight”.