CEDAR CITY — NASA is preparing to launch its biggest rocket ever on a mission to the moon and beyond.
Artemis I – the first integrated test of the agency’s Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and the ground systems at Kennedy Space Center in Florida – is scheduled for launch on Monday morning.
According to NASA’s website, the uncrewed flight test around the moon will pave the way for future crewed flights and further lunar exploration by astronauts within the next few years.
The massive SLS rocket, which stands 322 feet tall and weighs nearly 6 million pounds, will use four RS-25 engines that burn 735,000 gallons of liquid propellant to create 2 million pounds of thrust, while its twin rocket boosters burn more than 2 million pounds of solid propellant to create more than 7 million pounds of thrust, according to NASA.
The rocket was targeted to launch during a two-hour window that opened at 8:33 a.m. EDT (6:33 a.m. MDT) on Monday from Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center, located on the central Florida Atlantic coast.
Due to an engine issue, that launch was scrubbed and rescheduled for Friday around 10:30 a.m. MDT (12:30 p.m. EDT).
The rocket and spacecraft arrived at the launch pad Aug. 17 after a nearly 10-hour, four-mile trek from NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building. A livestream of the rocket and spacecraft at the launch pad currently is available on the NASA Kennedy YouTube channel.
Live coverage of pre-launch, launch and post-launch events will air on NASA Television, the NASA app and the agency’s website.
The project has a notable Southern Utah connection: American Pacific and RCS Rocket Motor Components, two companies based in Cedar City, helped produce and furnish fuel and components for the rocket’s propulsion systems.
Dane Boles, executive vice president for RCS’s AeroTech/Quest Division, told Cedar City News on Friday that he and the rest of the company’s employees are excited for the upcoming launch.
The twin boosters that will help propel the massive SLS rocket into orbit use the very same type of propellant as that of a model rocket launched by a Boy Scout or hobbyist, Boles noted.
“Whenever a consumer or a student pushes a button on one of our rocket motors, they’re working with the same family of propellant as NASA’s Space Shuttle boosters, military missiles or NASA’s SLS moon rocket,” he said. “I mean, it’s the real deal.”
Boles said to have not just one but two Cedar City companies involved in the rocket’s propulsion is “a pretty cool thing.”
Boles said American Pacific, also known as Ampac, also plays a vital role, as they are the sole North American producer of ammonium perchlorate, the primary oxidizing agent used in solid propellant rockets, booster motors and missiles.
The fact that we have Ampac here, they are a crucial national asset,” Boles said. “We’re so fortunate.”
“You don’t fly without Ampac,” Boles added. “Nothing goes into, or even toward space without Ampac’s AP, period.”
To celebrate both companies’ involvement in the NASA moon rocket project and to highlight other aerospace-related careers and opportunities, Cedar City Chamber of Commerce will host a post-launch event scheduled for Sept. 6 at 3 p.m. at Southwest Technical College in Cedar City.
Final details are being worked out, but Cedar City Chamber of Commerce President Chris McCormick said that the event likely will include several short speeches from industry and civic officials, along with discussion while showing replays of NASA’s coverage of the launch.
“The aim of this event is to highlight some of the exciting technology and companies here in Cedar City and to invite other aerospace and aviation companies to consider relocating to Cedar City,” McCormick told Cedar City News. “We also want our young people to see that there are some exciting career paths in the aerospace and aviation fields here in Iron County.”
Update Aug. 29, 6:30 a.m. Launch rescheduled to Saturday.
Update Sept. 4, 9 a.m. The scheduled launch was delayed again on Saturday and may be postponed for several weeks, according to NASA. Cedar City’s post-launch event planned for Sept. 6 has therefore been postponed and will also be rescheduled for a later date.
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