Shuttle-derived vehicle

rdf:langString Shuttle-derived vehicle

rdf:langString Shuttle-derived vehicles (SDV) are space launch vehicles and spacecraft that use components, technology, and infrastructure originally developed for the Space Shuttle program. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, NASA formally studied a cargo-only vehicle, Shuttle-C, that would have supplemented the crewed Space Shuttle. In 2005, NASA was developing the Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles, based in part on highly modified Shuttle components, to enable exploration of the Moon and Mars. The agency also studied a third such vehicle, the Ares IV. After the earlier programs were cancelled, NASA began development of the Space Launch System (SLS) in 2011. SLS is a super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle. Its core stage is structurally and visually similar to the Space Shuttle external tank. Each SLS launch reuses and expends four of the pre-flown RS-25D engines that were de-mounted from the Space shuttles. SLS also uses a pair of solid rocket boosters derived from the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster. The first SLS was delivered to Kennedy Space Center in 2021 for the Artemis 1 mission. As of November 2022, this SLS was rolled out to Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39B for several attempts to launch, finally launching on 16 November 2022.