All articles tagged with #exploration upper stage
A NASA Inspector General memo shows Artemis program hardware contracted at $2.9B grew to $5.9B by work cessation as mission plans changed (Artemis 4 instead of 3, a single SLS design) and Gateway was canceled, with cost overruns and delays hitting components like the Exploration Upper Stage, Universal Stage Adapter, Mobile Launcher 2, and HALO, prompting NASA to restructure for affordability and schedule realism.
NASA announced a sweeping Artemis overhaul: cancel the costly Exploration Upper Stage, standardize the SLS for a higher cadence (about every 10 months), and push more work to commercial lunar landers with SpaceX and Blue Origin so Artemis III won't land on the Moon but will dock Orion with landers in Earth orbit; Artemis IV would be the first lunar landing, with annual missions beginning in mid-2027 and into 2028, while Gateway tower and Moon-base questions stay under review.
NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket's first major upgrade, the Exploration Upper Stage (EUS), is moving into the qualification phase of development at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The EUS, part of the new SLS Block 1B configuration, is set to debut on the Artemis IV mission in 2028. Boeing, the prime contractor for the EUS, is working on validating weld schedules and assembly techniques, with the EUS employing new adapters and four RL10 engines. The development involves the use of advanced welding tools and aluminum-lithium alloy for weight savings. The EUS structural test article is being prepared for qualification, with plans for assembly and testing in preparation for the first EUS/Block 1B flight on Artemis IV.
Boeing's Exploration Upper Stage (EUS) is a revolutionary leap in crew safety, cargo capacity, and deep space power. EUS will replace the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) and allow NASA to send astronauts and large payloads to the Moon on a single mission. EUS provides 97,000 pounds of thrust during translunar injection versus nearly 25,000 pounds of thrust from ICPS. This added boost allows for 40 percent more payload to be sent to the Moon and beyond, enabling NASA to send more than 83,000 pounds of cargo on a single crewed mission.