NASA's $7 billion exploration-class rocket to ferry humans to Mars

The US space agency NASA is planning a journey of scientific and human exploration. It has announced to launch a $7 billion Space Launch System ( SLS) by November 2018. According to NASA officials, the exploration class rocket, which is currently under development, will ferry humans to Mars.

"We are on a journey of scientific and human exploration that leads to Mars. We are firmly committed to building the launch vehicle and other supporting systems that will take us on that journey," said NASA administrator Charles Bolden.

SLS will be configured for a 77-tonne lift capacity for its first flight test. The world's most capable rocket will also carry an uncrewed Orion spacecraft beyond low-earth orbit.

In its most powerful configuration, the NASA space shuttle-derived heavy launch vehicle will provide an unprecedented lift capability of 143 tonnes. As per researchers, this will enable missions even farther into our solar system, which includes destinations such as an asteroid and the Red Planet.

"After rigorous review, we are committing to a funding level and readiness date that will keep us on track to sending humans to Mars in the 2030s - and we are going to stand behind that commitment," Robert Lightfoot, NASA's associate administrator , said.

The programme delivered the first piece of flight hardware in April this year for Orion's maiden flight - Exploration Flight Test-1 - targeted for December.

The SLS will not only open new frontiers for explorers travelling aboard the Orion capsule, it may also offer benefits for science missions that require its use, NASA said in a press release.