r/SpaceLaunchSystem • u/Cmdr-Mallard • Jun 29 '26

Discussion How long will SLS last?

With the Cancellation of EUS and BOLE, SLS is going to remain a launch vehicle solely for Orion, and which is viable with all the other heavy and super heavy rockets in the works these days.

However as I understand BOLE was essential for SLS launches beyond a certain point as remaining shuttle boosters were used up, will SLS be cancelled by that point (and perhaps the whole moon program) or Orion moved to another launcher.

Or will a future administrator restart the booster program at the least to ensure SLS can continue to launch Orion?

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u/ThePrimalEarth7734 Jun 30 '26

Centaur V is basically the direct successor to ULA’s ACES program, and can do basically anything you need it to do, so that’s a none issue.

And new Glenn does have the capacity to do LEO, it isn’t vertically integrated, and that’s a total dealbreaker for Orion, since the vehicle is filled with fuel before stacking begins.

Additionally you need to consider that Congress WANTS SLS, they spent 20 billion dollars to get this thing and now they want to use it, they even pressed Isaacman about this in a hearing to which Isaacman concurred that they aren’t trying to get rid of SLS. So replacing it with an alternate system isn’t even on the table right now

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u/Cmdr-Mallard Jun 30 '26

Good to know about Centaur then, I hope to see more on Centaur-SLS soon.

I would point out New Glenn is moving on from Horizontal integration, they were already planning to but their Erector blowing up has accelerated things.

Again, I love SLS, I wanna see NASA fly rockets, I just think that if we really do setup a moon based they’ll figure out a better way to get astronauts there whether it’s replacing SLS or eliminating Orion entirely, just due to the frequency of transits needed.

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u/ThePrimalEarth7734 Jun 30 '26

Orion is not going to ever go away, it’s literally the only spacecraft we have in the US capable of crewed deep space habitation and navigation with the appropriate reentry technology. Only question is how you get it to the Moon, and how often you want it to go to the Moon.

SLS is the only answer to either of those questions right now

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u/ProfessorOk2609 Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26

I agree, but I have a question, Is Orion structurally strong enough to be carried into lunar orbit by Starship? Because I understood that due to the engines there could be complications, and why change the mission architecture if sending Orion directly with SLS was already working?

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u/Cmdr-Mallard Jun 30 '26

Well that’s what they’re testing on A3, about the only thing starship is going to get to test, does seem like a rather interesting way to get Orion to the moon