The center aft segment for qualification motor-1 (QM-1), a full-scale version of a solid rocket motor for the Space Launch System (SLS), was transported May 29 to its test area at ATK’s facility in Promontory, Utah. SLS is an advanced heavy-lift launch vehicle that will provide an entirely new national capability for human exploration beyond Earth’s orbit.
The center aft piece will be integrated with the other segments in preparation for a test firing of QM-1, scheduled for late 2013. The five-segment booster is the largest, most powerful solid rocket booster ever built for flight.
The SLS Program is managed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. ATK is the prime contractor for the boosters. The booster development is on track to support SLS’s first flight in 2017.
Image credit: ATK