Earth Departure Stage

Earth Departure Stage
Country of originUnited States
Used onAres V
SLS Block 2
Associated stages
ComparableS-IVB
Launch history
StatusCancelled (Ares V)
Postponed (SLS)
Ares V EDS
Height30 metres (98 ft)
Diameter10 metres (33 ft)
Empty mass47,400 kilograms (104,500 lb)
Gross mass294,000 kilograms (648,000 lb)
Powered by1 or 2 J-2X
Maximum thrust1,310 kilonewtons (290,000 lbf)
Specific impulse448 s (4.39 km/s) (vacuum)
PropellantLH2/LOX
SLS Block II EDS
Height24 metres (79 ft)
Powered by1 or 2 J-2X
Maximum thrust1,310 kilonewtons (290,000 lbf)
Specific impulse448 s (4.39 km/s) (vacuum)
PropellantLH2/LOX

The Earth Departure Stage (EDS) is the name given to the proposed second stage of the Block 2 Space Launch System. The EDS is intended to boost the rocket's payload into a parking orbit around the Earth and from there send the payload out of low Earth orbit to its destination in a manner similar to that of the S-IVB rocket stage used on the Saturn V rockets that propelled the Apollo spacecraft to the Moon. Its development has been put on hold (though not abandoned) until stages capable of transferring heavy payloads to Mars are required (currently expected in the 2030s).