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Description

NASA's Exploration Upper Stage, with an Orion and comanifested payload, is refueled in LEO by a propellant depot derived from ULA's ACES. The fully-loaded depot should be able to hold nearly 100 tons of propellant (delivered over 3 launches), fully refueling EUS even with nearly SLS's maximum payload to LEO. This could allow SLS 1B to send over 80 tons to TLI (about 50 tons comanifested with Orion). Alternatively, a single tanker launch (~35 tons propellant) could allow over 50 tons to TLI

Refueling is not currently planned for EUS (though inclusion of ACES systems like IVF is under study), but ULA and its parents have proposed it before as a means of cheaply augmenting SLS's performance

Patreon

Description

NASA's Exploration Upper Stage, with an Orion and comanifested payload, is refueled in LEO by a propellant depot derived from ULA's ACES. The fully-loaded depot should be able to hold nearly 100 tons of propellant (delivered over 3 launches), fully refueling EUS even with nearly SLS's maximum payload to LEO. This could allow SLS 1B to send over 80 tons to TLI (about 50 tons comanifested with Orion). Alternatively, a single tanker launch (~35 tons propellant) could allow over 50 tons to TLI

Refueling is not currently planned for EUS (though inclusion of ACES systems like IVF is under study), but ULA and its parents have proposed it before as a means of cheaply augmenting SLS's performance

Patreon