Hexcel carbon fiber selected for Artemis 9 mission booster production

Hexcel Corp. (Stamford, Conn., U.S.) announces that its advanced composite materials have been selected by Northrop Grumman (Bethesda, Md., U.S.) to supply the production of the Booster Obsolescence and Life Extension (BOLE) boosters for the Artemis 9 mission. Boosters will support the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

The Artemis program is a human spaceflight program that is being led by NASA (Washington, D.C., U.S.) with multiple international and U.S. domestic partners. Its primary goal is to return humans to the moon, specifically the lunar south pole, by 2025.

Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems is working to address space launch system obsolescence issues in booster design and manufacturing. Upgraded boosters using Hexcel’s carbon fiber and prepreg will also reportedly provide increased performance that will benefit future lunar campaigns, science missions and the eventual Mars campaign.

Beginning with the Artemis 9 mission, the new BOLE boosters will replace the steel cases previously used for the space shuttle systems with a weight-saving composite case and upgraded structures, electronic thrust vector control systems and propellant materials to address obsolescence.