SLS Exploration Upper Stage Passes NASA Critical Design Review Written 23 December 2020

Space News reports that The Boeing Company announced Monday that the Exploration Upper Stage of the Space Launch System completed a critical design review with NASA that “confirmed the design of the EUS, allowing Boeing to proceed with development of the stage, including hardware fabrication.” The EUS, which has larger tanks and uses four Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10 engines, “will be used on the Block 1B variant of SLS, replacing the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) used on the initial Block 1 version of the SLS and based on the Delta 4 upper stage.” The Block 1B variant can place 38 metric tons onto a translunar injection trajectory, an increase from Block 1’s performance of 27 metric tons. This will “enable SLS Block 1B missions launching Orion spacecraft to carry additional ‘co-manifested’ payloads, such as components for the lunar Gateway.”
Full Story (Space News)