NASA and Orbital K conducted the first qualification ground test on March 11 for the five-segment rocket motor that will be used for NASA's heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS). (Watch a video of the test firing.)

The rocket motor produced about 3.6 million pounds of thrust and fired for two minutes, the same amount of time it will fire when it lifts the SLS off a launch pad. More data will be available after post-test analysis on some 102 design objectives. The test took place at a site in Utah.

“This motor firing is the first of two qualification tests to certify the motor configuration for NASA's Space Launch System," says Charlie Precourt, vice president and general manager of Orbital ATK's Propulsion Systems Division, and a former astronaut.

Orbital ATK's five-segment motor is the largest human-rated solid rocket motor. At 12 feet in diameter and 154 feet in length,it produces 20% more power than the previously used four-segment motor.