A team of scientists at NASA has been working hard in testing and developing Space Launch System (SLS). Things seem to be sorting out for the next-generation manned launch vehicle of NASA, the Space Launch System (SLS).

The US space agency has now for the first time test-fired the updated RS-25 main engine, which went off successfully without any delay, burning at 109% thrust for 500 seconds.
The space agency has been dependent on Russian Soyuz capsules for reaching low-Earth orbit since the retirement of the Space Shuttle some years back.

The aim is to start sending astronauts to orbit on commercial vehicles in the coming few years, however, the vision of NASA is focused on quite far away targets such as the Red Planet and asteroids. The Space Launch System has proposed to reach at these destinations.

To reach there, the SLS has to slip the bonds of gravity with the help of a pair of solid rocket boosters bigger than any made so far. It will also need four updated RS-25 liquid fuel engines. The recently tested RS-25 engine is the first of a new breed. The Shuttle program has re-purposed this engine.

It is the same basic engine that flew on the Shuttle, however, contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne has brought some changes in it. The contractor collected the 16 surplus Shuttle engines and refitted them for SLS use. Before modifications, the engines would go up to the highest point at 104% thrust.

A RS-25 engines trio flew on every Shuttle mission, with having 135 successful uses under its belt. Aerojet Rocketdyne never let go the chance of saying that they are the most dependable rocket engines produced so far.

Along with the Shuttle, the engines came on the Earth with the orbiter for refurbishment and to be used again. It won’t be the case with the SLS.