Launch Vehicle
The Space Launch System (SLS) is an American two-stage super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle used by NASA. The primary launch vehicle for the Artemis program, SLS is designed to launch the four-person Orion spacecraft for missions to the Moon, on a trans-lunar injection trajectory. The rocket first launched in November 2022, carrying the uncrewed Artemis I mission. Its first crewed launch was for the Artemis II lunar flyby in April 2026, becoming the second launch vehicle to carry humans beyond low Earth orbit (LEO), after NASA's Saturn V of the Apollo program.