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As of January 2023^[update], the Space Launch System (SLS) – a Shuttle-derived, super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle – has conducted one successful launch, and a further four have been officially scheduled.^[1] All flights on the current launch manifest are for the Artemis program, a human spaceflight project aimed at establishing a permanent human presence on the Moon. The flights will launch from the vehicle's dedicated pad at Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39B (LC-39B). The first three flights use the Block 1 configuration with a modified Delta Cryogenic Second Stage known as the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS). The Block 1B configuration with the Exploration Upper Stage (EUS) will be used starting from the fourth flight.^[2]

Launches

Flight No.	Date, time (UTC)	Configuration	Payload	Orbit	Outcome
1	16 November 2022, 06:47^[3]	Block 1	Artemis I (Orion and ESM)	TLI	Success
1	Uncrewed maiden flight of the SLS, first operational flight of the Orion capsule. Carrying cubesats for ten missions in the CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI), and three missions in the Cube Quest Challenge: ArgoMoon, BioSentinel, CuSP, EQUULEUS, LunaH-Map, Lunar IceCube, LunIR, NEA Scout, OMOTENASHI and Team Miles.^[4]^[5] The payloads were sent on a trans-lunar injection trajectory.^[6]^[7]
2	April 2026^[8]	Block 1 Crew	Artemis II (Orion and ESM)	TLI	Planned
2	Crewed lunar flyby.
3	Mid-2027^[8]	Block 1 Crew	Artemis III (Orion and ESM)	Selenocentric	Planned
3	Crewed lunar rendezvous and landing.^[9]
4	September 2028^[10]	Block 1B Crew^[11]	Artemis IV (Orion and ESM) I-HAB	Selenocentric (NRHO)	Planned
4	Crewed mission to the Lunar Gateway. Delivery and integration of the International Habitation Module (I-HAB) to the Gateway, following by a crewed lunar landing.^[12]
5	March 2030^[13]	Block 1B Crew^[11]	Artemis V (Orion and ESM) ESPRIT	Selenocentric (NRHO)	Planned
5	Crewed mission to the Lunar Gateway, rendezvousing with the first Lunar Exploration Transportation Services (LETS) lander for a lunar landing. Delivery and integration of the ESPRIT module to the Gateway.^[14]

Proposed launches

Later Artemis missions

In early 2019, then-Associate Administrator for Human Exploration William H. Gerstenmaier drafted a proposal for three more launches of SLS Block 1B launch vehicles beyond Artemis 5 in support of the Artemis program. These include two crewed launches of the Orion spacecraft.^[15]^[16]

Non-Artemis missions

In 2012, Skylab II was proposed by an engineer working with NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. It would use the EUS hydrogen tank to build a 21st-century version of Skylab.^[17]^[18]^[19]

SLS was considered as a potential launch vehicle for the proposed Large UV Optical Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR) space telescope, which will have a main segmented mirror between 8 and 16 meters in diameter,^[20] making it 300 times more powerful than Hubble Space Telescope.^[21] It would be deployed at the Earth-Sun L2 point in 2035.^[20]^[22]^[23]

Proposals by Bigelow Aerospace, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK, Sierra Nevada Corporation, Space Systems Loral, and Nanoracks to build the Deep Space Habitat – a spacecraft with a large enough living space for humans to travel to destinations such as Mars, near Earth asteroids, or cislunar space – all envisioned a launch aboard an SLS vehicle.^[24]

The proposed Europa Lander, formerly part of the Europa Clipper mission, was proposed to be launched aboard an SLS in the mid-2010s.^[25] The joint NASA-ESA Titan Saturn System Mission proposal envisioned the SLS as an option for launch.^[26] On 10 February 2021, it was announced that Europa Clipper would not launch aboard an SLS.^[27] In July 2021, NASA booked a SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch for Europa Clipper at a price of $178 million.^[28] In addition to being much cheaper to launch, the Europa Clipper spacecraft would not need expensive structural modification to handle vibrational loads caused by the SLS's solid rocket boosters. The total cost savings was estimated at US$2 billion, but Europa Clipper will need three years longer to reach Jupiter on account of the smaller Falcon Heavy launcher.^[29]

The SLS was proposed by Boeing as a launch vehicle for a Uranus probe concept developed by NASA. The rocket would "deliver a small payload into orbit around Uranus and a shallow probe into the planet's atmosphere". The mission would study the Uranian atmosphere, magnetic and thermal characteristics, gravitational harmonics, as well as do flybys of Uranian moons.^[22]^[30] In addition, a 2017 study suggested that a single SLS Block 1B launch vehicle could launch two spacecraft, one to each ice giant, with launch dates suggested from 2024 to 2037 followed by a four-year transit time.^[31] Updated versions of the proposal recommend using a Falcon Heavy instead of SLS.^[32]

References

^ Lueders, Kathryn; Free, Jim (18 January 2022). NASA Advisory Council HEO Committee Public Meeting (PDF). NAC/HEO CMTE 2022. NASA. p. 16. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
^ Foust, Jeff (20 January 2022). "NASA foresees gap in lunar landings after Artemis 3". SpaceNews. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
^ Roulette, Joey; Gorman, Steve (16 November 2022). "NASA's next-generation Artemis mission heads to moon on debut test flight". Reuters. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
^ Foust, Jeff (21 May 2019). "In 2020, NASA Will Send Living Things to Deep Space for First Time Since Apollo". Space.com. Archived from the original on 6 August 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2019. BioSentinel is one of 13 cubesats flying aboard the Artemis I mission, which is currently targeted for mid-2020. [...] The other 12 cubesats flying aboard Artemis I are a diverse lot. For example, the Lunar Flashlight and Lunar IceCube missions will hunt for signs of water ice on the moon, and Near-Earth Asteroid Scout will use a solar sail to rendezvous with a space rock.
^ Northon, Karen (9 June 2017). "Three DIY CubeSats Score Rides on Exploration Mission-1". National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Archived from the original on 6 August 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2019. NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) has awarded rides for three small spacecraft on the agency's newest rocket, and $20,000 each in prize money, to the winning teams of citizen solvers competing in the semi-final round of the agency's Cube Quest Challenge.
^ Crane, Aimee (11 June 2019). "Artemis 1 Flight Control Team Simulates Mission Scenarios". National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Archived from the original on 6 August 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2019. ...after the Space Launch System performs the Trans-Lunar Injection burn that sends the spacecraft out of Earth orbit and toward the Moon.
^ Clark, Stephen (22 July 2019). "First moon-bound Orion crew capsule declared complete, major tests remain". SpaceflightNow. Archived from the original on 6 August 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2019. The Artemis 1 mission profile. Credit: NASA [...] The Artemis 1 mission sent the Orion spacecraft into a distant retrograde lunar orbit and back...
^ ^a ^b Donaldson, Abbey A. (5 December 2024). "NASA Shares Orion Heat Shield Findings, Updates Artemis Moon Missions". NASA. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
^ Foust, Jeff (9 November 2021). "NASA delays human lunar landing to at least 2025". SpaceNews. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
^ Foust, Jeff (13 March 2023). "NASA planning to spend up to $1 billion on space station deorbit module". SpaceNews. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
^ ^a ^b Lueders, Kathryn; Free, Jim (18 January 2022). NASA Advisory Council HEO Committee Public Meeting (PDF). NAC/HEO CMTE 2022. NASA. p. 16. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
^ Foust, Jeff (30 October 2022). "Lunar landing restored for Artemis 4 mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
^ https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/nasa-fiscal-year-2025-budget-summary.pdf
^ Foust, Jeff (20 January 2022). "NASA foresees gap in lunar landings after Artemis 3". SpaceNews. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
^ Berger, Eric (20 May 2019). "NASA's full Artemis plan revealed: 37 launches and a lunar outpost". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 23 May 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2019. NASA's "notional" plan for a human return to the Moon by 2024, and an outpost by 2028.
^ Foust, Jeff (24 May 2019). "NASA Has a Full Plate of Lunar Missions Before Astronauts Can Return to Moon". Space.com. Archived from the original on 25 May 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2019. A NASA infographic shows the proposed timeline for landing astronauts on the moon in 2024 and building a sustained human presence on the lunar surface and in orbit by 2028. [...] After Artemis 3, NASA would launch four additional crewed missions to the lunar surface between 2025 and 2028.
^ Hammonds, Markus (14 April 2013). "Skylab II:Living Beyond the Dark Side of the Moon". Discovery.
^ "Deep Space Habitat module concepts outlined for BEO exploration". NASASpaceFlight.com. 30 March 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
^ Morring Jr., Frank (22 October 2012). "NASA Deep-Space Program Gaining Focus". Aviation Week & Space Technology. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
^ ^a ^b Stahl, H. Philip; Hopkins, Randall C. (9 August 2015). "SLS Launched Missions Concept Studies for LUVOIR Mission". International Society for Optical Engineering.
^ "The Space Launch System—the most powerful rocket ever built". Universe Today. 31 July 2017 – via PhysOrg.
^ ^a ^b Gebhardt, Chris (20 November 2013). "New SLS mission options explored via new Large Upper Stage". NASASpaceFlight.com.
^ Scoles, Sarah (30 March 2016). "NASA Considers Its Next Flagship Space Telescope". Scientific American. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
^ Boeing's deep space habitat could be home for Mars astronauts Mariella Moon, Engadget April 4, 2017
^ JPL moves ahead with Mars and Europa missions despite funding uncertainty Jeff Foust July 18, 2017
^ Creech, Stephen (April 2014). "NASA's Space Launch System: A Capability for Deep Space Exploration" (PDF). NASA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2016. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ NASA to use commercial launch vehicle for Europa Clipper Jeff Foust February 10, 2021
^ Potter, Sean (23 July 2021). "NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for the Europa Clipper Mission" (Press release). NASA. Retrieved 23 July 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ "SpaceX to launch the Europa Clipper mission for a bargain price". Ars Technica. 23 July 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
^ "Space Launch System Exploration, Science, Security" (PDF). boeing.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
^ Ice Giants Pre-Decadal Survey Report (PDF). NASA (Report). 2017.
^ Simon, Amy; Nimmo, Francis; Anderson, Richard C. (7 June 2021). "Journey to an Ice Giant System: Uranus Orbiter and Probe". Planetary Mission Concept for the 2023–2032 Planetary Science Decadal Survey. NASA. Retrieved 1 May 2022.