NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) is one of the most powerful rockets ever built, designed to send astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft beyond Earth orbit and toward the Moon. Standing taller than the Statue of Liberty and producing more than 8.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, SLS combines decades of spaceflight experience with new technologies to support NASA's Artemis campaign and future missions into deep space.
The rocket builds on the legacy of the Space Shuttle Program, using upgraded versions of the shuttle's main engines and solid rocket boosters alongside a massive core stage that holds more than 700,000 gallons of cryogenic propellant. Following the historic Artemis II mission, which carried astronauts around the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years, NASA is now preparing SLS for Artemis III, a mission that will test critical capabilities needed for future lunar landings and help pave the way for humanity's return to the lunar surface.