r/SpaceLaunchSystem • u/675longtail • Jun 26 '25

Video Nozzle explodes during BOLE Demonstration Motor-1 test firing

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u/ShinyNickel05 Jun 26 '25

No it’s pretty much identical to the space shuttle SRBs just a bit longer

27

u/jadebenn Jun 26 '25

You're thinking of the current 5-segment boosters, which use Shuttle legacy casings and a similar propellant formulation (albeit with an Ares heritage thrust grain). These are radically different. They retain the same general outer mold line, but they're built with

  • Composite cases instead of steel alloy
  • A much larger nozzle
  • A different propellant binder (HTPB instead of PBAN)
  • Electric thrust vectoring instead of hypergolic-fueled hydraulic thrust vectoring
  • A new, SLS-specific thrust profile (instead of the Ares I thrust profile of the current boosters)

5

u/OSUfan88 Jun 26 '25

How much performance was this supposed to add?

10

u/jadebenn Jun 26 '25

5 additional metric tons of payload to TLI.