Northrop Grumman Tests Largest SLS Booster With Nozzle Anomaly in Utah

Northrop Grumman conducted the first full-scale test of the Booster Obsolescence and Life Extension (BOLE) solid rocket motor, the largest and most powerful segmented solid rocket motor ever built for human spaceflight, at its Promontory, Utah site. The 156-foot-long motor produced over 4 million pounds of thrust during a burn lasting just over two minutes, but an anomaly occurred near the end of the test involving the nozzle, which liberated energetically and released debris. Despite this issue, the test provided valuable data to improve the design, demonstrating advances such as a carbon fiber composite case, updated propellant, and enhancements that increase booster performance by over 10 percent compared to current boosters. The BOLE motor is intended for NASA's Space Launch System Block 2 and future Artemis missions, including Artemis IX and later lunar and Mars missions, offering an additional five metric tons of payload capacity to lunar orbit. NASA and Northrop Grumman view the test as a significant step forward despite technical challenges, underscoring their commitment to overcoming design hurdles to support ambitious space exploration goals. This milestone illustrates ongoing innovation and resilience critical to advancing the Artemis program and human exploration beyond Earth.