Mobile Launcher 2 will help stabilize the rocket and spacecraft with approximately 6 million pounds gross liftoff weight at the time of launch to the Moon.
ORLANDO, FLORIDA, USA, April 29, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ — The new Mobile Launcher 2 (ML2) being built at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida is destined to launch 2 of the four configurations of the Space Launch System (SLS) to the Moon. The ML2 is the ground platform structure that will allow the Space Launch System (SLS) to arrive at the Moon, carrying astronauts and heavy cargo to the lunar surface as part of NASA’s Artemis program, that is intended to reestablish the human presence on the Moon for the first time since 1972. ML2 will help stabilize the rocket and spacecraft with approximately 6 million pounds gross liftoff weight at the time of launch, by the end of 2025.
Sarens, world leader in heavy lifting, engineered transports and crane rental services, was entrusted by Betchel, the primer contractor for ML2, in early 2022, with a heavy lift and transportation contract for its construction, when the two of them together with NASA designed the technical solutions and engineering project to start that construction mission.
In August 2023, onsite assembly of the ML2 base frame began and Sarens mobilized an M2250 Maxer, M999, and SPMT 24L plus 2PP for work on this special operation. Sarens was also involved in the roll-off activities of the truss steel for the launcher’s base frame, which had been fabricated off-site and shipped to Kennedy Space Center by barge. Because the offsite fabrication yards were located in Louisiana and South Carolina, barge transport was the most effective means of conveyance.
Sarens engineering worked to ensure the truss steel made it safely to the Kennedy Space Center dock for the roll-off operation. Once onsite, the truss steel had to undergo an intense corrosion protection process, and Sarens SPMTs (Self-Propelled Modular Transports) assisted in moving it through this process before it finally reached the assembly location. There, Sarens cranes assembled the trusses.
Project Manager at the site, Randall Fox said: “I’m proud to be a part of such a trusted team of professionals working together for the further research, development & success of our continued US Space exploration & endeavors”.
Now that the new mobile launch platform for NASA’s Space Launch System is progressing at high speed to start its operations, an LR1350S crane will soon be added to the equipment fleet. Sarens was selected to carry out the logistics of this operation because of a track record of results, innovation, specialized engineering expertise, and the know-how to work safely and right at the first time and will continue working until everything is ready in Kennedy Space Center.
Kennedy Space Center (KSC) has been used for all manned space missions since December 1968. Located on Merritt Island, it is north-northwest of Cape Canaveral, located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, midway between Miami and Jacksonville, on the coast of Florida. Florida’s peninsular shape and temperature contrasts between land and ocean, creating ideal conditions for thunderstorms, earning Central Florida its reputation as the “lightning capital of the United States”, and Sarens had the challenge to cope with the particular weather conditions of rain, wind and maritime hazards, helped by the lightning detection and protection systems in the KSC.
This is not the first time Sarens has collaborated with NASA. In March 2022, Sarens already signed an agreement to start collaborating in the work related to the Artemis expedition, preparing the necessary infrastructure for future actions of this program. In the same way, Sarens was able to work with NASA on lifting activities for the Mission to Mars project at the Stennis Space Center (SSC) in Mississippi.
Sarens LeanFactor Team
LeanFactor Global Communication
sarens@leanfactor.net
