Vehicle family profile

SLS

Family-level launch record combining canonical variants, historical missions, public cadence forecasts, and available payload performance specs.

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Variants

Canonical variants linked to this family.

Historical missions

Missions in the public mission table with actual launch dates.

Peak listed capacity

105,000 kg

Maximum payload capacity across listed variants and orbits.

Launch Cadence

Historical missions are grouped by actual launch year. Forecast cadence uses family-level launch-rate rows.

Year	Historical missions	Forecast launches
2022	1	0
2026	1	1
2027	0	1
2028	0	2
2029	0	1
2030	0	1
2031	0	1
2032	0	1
2033	0	1
2034	0	1
2035	0	1
2036	0	1
2037	0	1
2038	0	1
2039	0	1
2040	0	1
2041	0	1

Performance Specs

Payload capacity by variant and target orbit when structured capacity rows are available.

Variant	Orbit	Capacity	Altitude	Inclination	Source
SLS Block 1B	LEO	105,000 kg	200 km	28.5 deg	NASA SLS Mission Planners Guide
SLS Block 1	LEO	95,000 kg	200 km	28.5 deg	NASA SLS overview article

Recent Missions

Latest launched missions using variants in this family.

Mission	Variant	Launch
Artemis II Mission	SLS Block 1	Apr 1, 2026
Artemis I Mission	SLS Block 1	Nov 16, 2022

Forecasted Missions

Upcoming mission rows with announced launch timing.

Mission	Variant	Announced
No forecasted missions No upcoming announced mission rows are linked to this vehicle family.

Variants

Canonical variants rolled up into this launch vehicle family.

Variant	Stages	Missions	Status
SLS Block 1	Not stated	2	active
SLS Block 1B	Not stated	0	development

Forecast Location Split

1 launch location represented.

Year	Location	Launches	Confidence	Basis
2026	Kennedy Space Center \| LC-39B	1	35%	Manual 2026-06-06 review: one annual SLS cadence except a two-launch 2028 Artemis IV/V exception from current NASA schedule.
2027	Kennedy Space Center \| LC-39B	1	35%	Manual 2026-06-06 review: one annual SLS cadence except a two-launch 2028 Artemis IV/V exception from current NASA schedule.
2028	Kennedy Space Center \| LC-39B	2	40%	Manual 2026-06-06 review: one annual SLS cadence except a two-launch 2028 Artemis IV/V exception from current NASA schedule.
2029	Kennedy Space Center \| LC-39B	1	35%	Manual 2026-06-06 review: one annual SLS cadence except a two-launch 2028 Artemis IV/V exception from current NASA schedule.
2030	Kennedy Space Center \| LC-39B	1	35%	Manual 2026-06-06 review: one annual SLS cadence except a two-launch 2028 Artemis IV/V exception from current NASA schedule.
2031	Kennedy Space Center \| LC-39B	1	35%	Manual 2026-06-06 review: one annual SLS cadence except a two-launch 2028 Artemis IV/V exception from current NASA schedule.
2032	Kennedy Space Center \| LC-39B	1	35%	Manual 2026-06-06 review: one annual SLS cadence except a two-launch 2028 Artemis IV/V exception from current NASA schedule.
2033	Kennedy Space Center \| LC-39B	1	35%	Manual 2026-06-06 review: one annual SLS cadence except a two-launch 2028 Artemis IV/V exception from current NASA schedule.
2034	Kennedy Space Center \| LC-39B	1	35%	Manual 2026-06-06 review: one annual SLS cadence except a two-launch 2028 Artemis IV/V exception from current NASA schedule.
2035	Kennedy Space Center \| LC-39B	1	35%	Manual 2026-06-06 review: one annual SLS cadence except a two-launch 2028 Artemis IV/V exception from current NASA schedule.
2036	Kennedy Space Center \| LC-39B	1	35%	Manual 2026-06-06 review: one annual SLS cadence except a two-launch 2028 Artemis IV/V exception from current NASA schedule.
2037	Kennedy Space Center \| LC-39B	1	35%	Manual 2026-06-06 review: one annual SLS cadence except a two-launch 2028 Artemis IV/V exception from current NASA schedule.
2038	Kennedy Space Center \| LC-39B	1	35%	Manual 2026-06-06 review: one annual SLS cadence except a two-launch 2028 Artemis IV/V exception from current NASA schedule.
2039	Kennedy Space Center \| LC-39B	1	35%	Manual 2026-06-06 review: one annual SLS cadence except a two-launch 2028 Artemis IV/V exception from current NASA schedule.
2040	Kennedy Space Center \| LC-39B	1	35%	Manual 2026-06-06 review: one annual SLS cadence except a two-launch 2028 Artemis IV/V exception from current NASA schedule.
2041	Kennedy Space Center \| LC-39B	1	40%	NASA Artemis architecture points to roughly annual missions after ramp; use one annual SLS launch. Site-year coverage backfill copied nearest prior site-rate r...

Kennedy Space Center | LC-39B

2026 · 35% confidence