In preparation for the next American space mission after the shuttle retirement in 2010, NASA announced the successful completion of the Ares I rocket preliminary design review. Ares I is responsible for taking the Orion crew into orbit starting 2015.

According to NASA’s most recent report, the preliminary design review is the first critical milestone in more than 35 years for a U.S. rocket responsible for carrying astronauts into space. The purpose of the examination was to establish whether the planned technical approach will meet NASA requirements for the fully integrated vehicle, and to ensure that the vehicle and supporting systems will work together well.

The review, which was conducted by a team of over 1,100 specialists at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, was the final step of the design process. Such reviews are necessary before the designs start being put into practice.

“This is a critical step for development of the Ares I rocket,” said Rick Gilbrech, associate administrator of the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate in Washington. “Completing the preliminary design review of the integrated vehicle demonstrates our engineering design and development are on sound footing, and the Ares I design work is taking us another step closer to building America’s next mode of space transportation.”

This is just one part of the long series of reviews NASA will need to conduct in order to correct all the problems that may appear along the way. As Steve Cook, manager of the Ares I rocket, pointed out, identifying the risks that can impact the process and resolving them is a vital part of the development process.

Last month, NASA presented proposals to mitigate the thrust oscillation problem in the Ares I rocket. Ares I is part of NASA’s Constellation Program, which also includes the development of the Ares V heavy launch vehicle for cargo launcher, the Orion crew capsule, and the Altair lunar lander. On August 15, NASA successfully completed the engine test series for Ares I rocket.