NASA’s Orion Crew Capsule May Launch on a Commercial Rocket

NASA's Orion crew capsule may launch on its first big test flight on a private rocket, instead of NASA's planned SLS. (Credit: NASA) For years, NASA has been working on their massive Space Launch System (SLS), a next-generation heavy lift rocket that could launch cargo and astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit for the first time since the Apollo Program. They've been developing it in tandem with Orion, a crew capsule that would carry those astronauts into Earth orbit and beyond. Orion’s next big test flight, called EM-1, an uncrewed mission into lunar orbit, is currently scheduled for June 2020. But in a Senate committee hearing yesterday morning, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine acknowledged that SLS is “struggling” to meet its schedule, and that if they want to launch Orion on time, they should look to private spaceflight to provide the means. While Bridenstine didn’t mention which commercial companies he was thinking about, ...