SLS to launch without upper stage for Artemis 3
NASA plans to fly the Space Launch System on Artemis 3 without an upper stage as the agency begins to define revised plans for the mission.
NASA, in a May 13 update on Artemis 3, said the SLS will launch with an inert "spacer" in place of the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage on the mission. The spacer, being built at Marshall Space Flight Center, will have the same dimensions and interfaces as the ICPS.
The use of the spacer in place of the ICPS stems from changes to the mission announced in February. Artemis 3 was originally intended to be the first crewed lunar landing attempt of the overall Artemis lunar exploration campaign, but NASA announced Feb. 27 that the 2027 mission instead will remain in low Earth orbit to rendezvous with lunar lander prototypes being developed by Blue Origin and SpaceX.
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NASA also announced at the same time that the agency would not develop the Block 1B version of the SLS, which would have used the larger Exploration Upper Stage in place of the ICPS. Since the ICPS, derived from the Delta 4 upper stage, is no longer in production, NASA announced March 6 it would instead use the Centaur upper stage currently used on United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket.
While NASA did not explain in its update why it is not using the ICPS on Artemis 3, replacing it with a spacer means the final ICPS can instead be flown on Artemis 4, the first crewed landing attempt planned in 2028. That gives NASA more time to adapt the Centaur for use on SLS starting with Artemis 5.
Without the ICPS, the Orion spacecraft will use its own propulsion to circularize its low Earth orbit. In a May 7 request for information regarding alternative communications systems for Artemis 3, NASA listed as part of its "ground rules and assumptions" that Orion would operate in a 463-kilometer orbit at an inclination of 33 degrees.
The Artemis 3 mission is intended, NASA stated in the update, to "test rendezvous and docking capabilities" between Orion and Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mark 2 lander and SpaceX's Starship lander. However, the agency has released few details, even with the latest update, about how the mission would proceed.
That includes whether astronauts will enter either lunar lander. "Informed by Blue Origin and SpaceX capabilities, NASA also is defining the concept of operations for the mission," NASA stated. "While some decisions are yet to be determined, astronauts could potentially enter at least one lander test article."
The mission is particularly complex because it will involve three launches: the SLS carrying Orion and separate launches of the two landers. "For the first time, NASA will coordinate a launch campaign involving multiple spacecraft integrating new capabilities into Artemis operations," Jeremy Parsons, acting assistant deputy administrator for Moon to Mars at NASA, said in the update.
NASA noted that Artemis 3 will last longer than Artemis 2, which splashed down a little more than nine days after liftoff on its flight around the moon.
The agency acknowledged it has yet to make several key decisions about Artemis 3, including selection of a crew for the mission and how the Artemis lunar spacesuit being developed by Axiom Space might be tested on the flight.
The update also did not provide a date for Artemis 3 beyond sometime next year. When NASA announced the revised plans for Artemis 3 in February, the agency expected to fly the mission by mid-2027, but more recently has indicated the mission might not launch until late 2027.
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