The Space Launch System (SLS) is a US super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle under development. It is the primary launch vehicle of NASA's deep space exploration plans, including the planned crewed lunar flights of the Artemis program and a possible follow-on human mission to Mars.

On Oct 22, 2015, NASA announced that a Critical Design Review (CDR) was completed revealing a reworked color scheme on the rocket. The program concluded the core stage of the rocket and launch vehicle stage adapter will remain orange. Orange is "the natural color of the insulation that will cover those elements."

The burnt orange-color foam is the same that was used to insulate the space shuttle's large external fuel tank. Back in 1981, NASA painted the first two of those tanks white to protect against ultraviolet radiation, but chose to forego the coating on subsequent missions to save on the weight of the paint.

The new SLS art also includes stylized orange and gray markings on the vehicle's two side-mounted boosters. The solid rocket motors are built from the same casings that flew with the shuttle, but are now one-segment longer (for a total of five) to provide the additional thrust needed to launch the more massive SLS.

Source: Collectspace.com

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Read blog post about the SLS here.