New NASA large-scale rocket

Above is a stunningly realistic animation of a new large-scale launch vehicle. Many people seemed to think that when the Space Shuttle program ended that NASA was no longer going to be involved in large-scale launch systems, which is false. I think the press is to blame for this since this is how it was reported over and over, along with ongoing news about NASA’s contracting out to private companies for some launch operations.

The new rocket, which is developed by NASA, is called the Space Launch System (SLS) and is planned to be ready in 2016. It will be able to carry three times the weight of a Space Shuttle.