Northrop Grumman Boosters Set For First Crewed Lunar Voyage Of Artemis Era

by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 29, 2026
Two Northrop Grumman five segment solid rocket boosters are taking their place on the launch pad as NASA prepares for the first crewed flight of the Space Launch System rocket under the Artemis II mission from Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, targeted for early February 2026.

The twin solid rocket boosters stand 177 feet tall and each produces 3.6 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, making them the largest and most powerful solid rocket boosters ever flown on a human spaceflight mission. Evolved from the four segment boosters flown during the space shuttle era, the upgraded design provided more than 75 percent of the SLS rocket thrust during the Artemis I test flight and will again operate as a matched pair for the first crewed mission of the system.

Northrop Grumman has also supplied key elements of the Launch Abort System for the Orion spacecraft that will ride atop SLS. The company manufactures both the attitude control motor and the abort motor, which together are designed to pull Orion and its crew away from the rocket in the event of an emergency during launch or ascent. For Artemis II, this abort capability will be fully active to provide an additional safety layer for the four astronaut crew.

Company officials describe the booster contribution as central to the overall launch performance of SLS. Jim Kalberer, vice president of propulsion systems at Northrop Grumman, said the team has applied its manufacturing experience and solid rocket motor expertise to deliver 7.2 million pounds of the rocket's total 8.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. He said the power and performance of the solid rocket boosters are critical to enabling a new phase of American deep space exploration and to building a sustainable human presence beyond low Earth orbit in preparation for future missions to Mars.

Artemis II will be the first mission to send humans into deep space in more than half a century. The four astronauts will spend about 10 days on a mission around the Moon, using the flight to confirm the integrated performance of the SLS rocket, Orion spacecraft, and associated systems and hardware under operational conditions. Data and experience collected during the mission are expected to form a foundation for subsequent lunar landing flights and longer duration crewed expeditions into deep space.

Beyond the immediate launch campaign, Northrop Grumman is positioning its space hardware across multiple elements of the Artemis architecture. The company is building the Habitat and Logistics Outpost, or HALO, module for the planned Gateway station that will orbit the Moon as a deep space habitation and logistics node. HALO is intended to support astronaut crews living and working on extended missions to the lunar vicinity and to serve as a stepping stone for eventual Mars missions.

To support future deep space exploration beyond Artemis II, Northrop Grumman is also developing a next generation solid rocket booster. This system is described as the largest and most powerful segmented solid rocket booster the company has ever manufactured and is aimed at providing additional lift capability for future heavy lift missions into deep space. Together with the current SLS booster fleet and abort system motors, these developments underline the company's continuing role in U.S. human spaceflight and deep space transportation planning for years ahead.