A trial of a novel rocket engine for NASA’s upcoming lunar missions faced difficulties this week, as the full-size booster unleashed a fierce blaze and distributed debris.
Northrop Grumman, the primary contractor for the booster, executed the two-minute ground evaluation of the solid rocket motor, which was set up horizontally. For the initial 1.5 minutes, the motor — referred to as NASA’s Booster Obsolescence and Life Extension, or BOLE — seemed to operate correctly. Soon after, debris was discharged from the nozzle, and flames raced through the extensive exhaust plume.
The 156-foot booster continued firing throughout the remainder of the test, with no injuries reported. NASA’s livestream documented the event, beginning approximately 22 minutes and 17 seconds into the footage.
Engineers did not promptly recognize the problem during the broadcast, except for one operator exclaiming “Whoa,” succeeded by a notable gasp. The company later verified that a malfunction occurred late in the burn but did not disclose additional information.
The anomaly, which took place at a Northrop Grumman testing facility in Promontory, Utah, raises concerns about the hardware that could potentially transport astronauts into space — and possibly to Mars.
“As a new design, and the largest segmented solid rocket booster ever manufactured, this test furnishes us with invaluable data to refine our design for future advancements,” stated Jim Kalberer, Northrop Grumman’s vice president of propulsion systems, in a statement.
A single BOLE booster generates over 4 million pounds of thrust. Credit: Northrop Grumman
The BOLE motor represents a major redesign of those utilized on NASA’s Space Launch System, or SLS, the rocket intended to carry astronauts to the moon under the Artemis initiative. It substitutes old components with lightweight materials and new fuel, enhancing thrust and enabling the rocket to support heavier payloads.
The boosters for the first eight Artemis missions reuse the steel booster casings and components from the Space Shuttle program. Commencing with Artemis IX, the SLS rocket, sometimes dubbed the mega moon rocket, is anticipated to employ the BOLE. The plan is for two of them to flank each side of the rocket.
“In order to reduce cost and timeline, we incorporated the proven heritage hardware from the Shuttle into our design, but this is being exhausted as the Artemis program advances,” remarked Julia Khodabandeh, NASA’s deputy manager for the SLS booster element office. “It’s simply not feasible to restart production from that 1970s era.”
This marked the initial demonstration test of the enhanced five-segment solid rocket motor. That single booster yielded more than 4 million pounds of thrust, according to Dave Reynolds, NASA’s SLS booster subsystems manager.
“You can observe from the side of the mountain up there,” Reynolds commented afterward, “it’s still experiencing the consequences of that test.”
The demonstration aimed to evaluate the motor’s design limits, comprehend the stress and strain on various materials, and determine if the motor’s components could endure extreme conditions. The two-minute test simulates the duration a booster would ignite during an actual launch. Northrop Grumman officials stated that the information from the BOLE test will aid in refining the design.
The new boosters are not anticipated to launch until at least the late 2030s, and it’s uncertain if they ever will. Proposed budget reductions for NASA would signify the halting of SLS production after Artemis III, the first human lunar landing since Apollo 17. That mission has been postponed until 2027 at the earliest.
The White House has expressed a preference for the space agency to concentrate on employing commercial systems. Legislators are still deliberating on how many more SLS launches, each costing about $4.1 billion, to fund.