NASA Rocket Intended For Moon Launch To Be Assembled By End Of 2019 - Pence

NASA Rocket Intended for Moon Launch to Be Assembled by End of 2019 - Pence

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st August, 2019) The construction of the Space Launch System, a rocket that will carry the next generation of astronauts to the Moon, will be fully completed by the end of 2019, US Vice President Mike Pence said on Tuesday.

"The Space Launch System, known as SLS - the world's most powerful rocket that will launch American astronauts toward the moon - will be fully assembled by the end of this year," Pence said during a meeting of the National Space Council.

In May, US President Donald Trump requested from Congress additional $1.6 billion to his budget so that NASA could send again humans to the Moon.

Vice President Pence in March called on NASA to expedite its lunar return by "any means necessary."

In response, NASA launched its lunar initiative Artemis, which aims to put the first woman on the Moon by 2024.