NASA inks $2.8 billion deal for SLS rocket stage with Boeing Research and Development

After the completion of Critical Design Review by NASA and Boeing followed the contract signing ceremony of the new $2.8 billion contract.

Boeing has earned a contract from NASA to assist in development of the Space Launch System (SLS), which is an unconventional, heavy-lift launch vehicle being developed to raise the bars of science and human exploration in outer space.

Earlier, for national security related space launches NASA contracted Boeing. The supplies of rocket engines to NASA after importing them from Russia is handled by the United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing. A big controversy recently took place after the US imposed sanctions on Russia for being engaged in annexation of Crimea. The ULA's connections with Russia were publicly petitioned by ULA's connections with Russia.

But leaving the controversy aside, comes the new SLS contract. The SLS is in the final stage of the production and if the work goes as per the schedule then the first test launch for the SLS will take place in 2017. The mission is focused to enable researchers perform deep space exploration.

According to Boeing SLS' Vice President and Program Manager Virginia Barnes - Boeing is excited about NASA’s mission to explore deep space. A dedicated team is working on the SLS project to ensure that the massive ever launch system will be built on time with maximum safely and affordability.

The two main configurations of the SLS is the 70-metric-ton rocket and the 130-metric-ton rocket. The former is well capable of lifting more than 154,000 pounds, whereas the latter is designed to carry over 286,000 pounds. The Orion spacecraft will be carried out during the launch scheduled in 2017. The Orion spacecraft has been developed to take human in unexplored deep space.