NASA has completed the preparation of a new contract with Boeing. Under the terms of the USD 3.2 billion agreement, the company will manufacture the first stages of the SLS rocket for the Artemis III and Artemis IV missions.
In October 2019, NASA provided Boeing with pre-financing for the purchase of key components needed to manufacture the first stage of the SLS rocket for the Artemis III mission. One of the clauses of the contract concluded at that time stated that in the future NASA could order up to ten more first and up to eight new upper stages for SLS.
The new agreement with Boieng is the implementation of this clause. NASA will pay for the production of the first stages for the Artemis III and Artemis IV missions, as well as the purchase of critical materials for the Artemis V and Artemis VI missions. In addition, Boeing will undertake the creation of upper stages for them and provide full technical support.
The contract with Boeing is part of NASA’s strategy to optimize the manufacturing process of SLS components. Currently, engineers are completing work on the manufacture of the first stage for the Artemis II mission. It is expected to be ready next year.
It is also worth noting that starting with the Artemis IV mission, a more powerful upper stage of the EUS will be installed on the SLS. In the current configuration, the rocket can send up to 27 tons of cargo to the Moon. EUS will increase this figure to 42 tons.
Earlier we talked about NASA’s plans to change the SLS purchase scheme.
According to https://phys.org
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