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NASA's Orion design is based on the older Space Launch

Feb. 6, 2017 by Kimberly Parks

NASA's Orion design is based on the older Space Launch System (SLS), which was designed to have the power to carry a manned spacecraft into space. By the end of this fiscal year, the SLS would have been the third most powerful spacecraft ever built, with the SLS reaching temperatures above 1000 degrees Celsius. It is designed to be the mainstay of Orion's mission because its large scale construction and the high cost of the Orion program would result in it being almost unusable without a backup thruster or a solid-fueled vehicle for its launch. If, however, a backup thruster or a liquid-fueled vehicle were needed, a crewed booster could be built.

NASA's Orion is capable of carrying a crew of 2 people, each of whom is intended to carry a payload of 50 ounces or more, which is equivalent to two American-made rockets. An Orion crew capsule is able to carry between 100 and 200 pounds of payload for a mission with a mission-specific mission schedule. The Orion crew capsule, unlike the Orion Falcon, cannot carry astronauts with a crew of 1-4. NASA also said in a statement that, given the spaceflight capabilities of the Falcon-1 and Falcon-2 boosters, the company's new design can be used to carry an additional 2,000 to 3,000 lbs of payload for long-duration missions.

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket is scheduled to launch in 2018, with its 1,100-ton payload carrying 1,900 kilograms, and will be used to carry a payload of 6,600 kg. While the company is making its Falcon-1 and Falcon-2 boosters, it is also working to develop a new rocket to carry the next generation of satellites.

NASA's Orion mission has been criticized for some shortcomings, such as its ability to carry a crew of 3,000 and its lack of a thruster, which might be considered more powerful than the Falcon-1. At a press conference earlier this year, NASA said that the SLS, like SLS-1 and SLS-2, is "as much a spacecraft as you can throw on it, but it never really is." The statement followed a statement by Boeing, the company that makes the Falcon Heavy, that it has been the first to test the ability of the Orion capsule to carry humans into the atmosphere.

NASA says that the SLS is a "superb spacecraft" that can carry three people for a mission. However, it is not clear how many are actually needed.