NASA Chief Talks New Rocket at Kennedy Space Center

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and other senior NASA officials toured the newly-completed Mobile Launch Platform at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on Tuesday, October 11. During the visit, Bolden also made some remarks about the American space agency's next rocket, the SLS.

The Space Launch System will be a heavy-lift delivery system equipped to carry the Orion Multipurpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) to missions in orbit, on the Moon and on Mars. In the future, it may be that the rocket will be launched from the new platform.

“As our nation looks for ways to compete and win in the 21st century, NASA continues to be an engine of job growth and economic opportunity,” the NASA Administrator said in a statement.

“From California to Florida, the space industry is strong and growing. The next generation of explorers will not fly a space shuttle, but they may be able to walk on Mars. And those journeys are starting at the Kennedy Space Center today,” he concluded.