NASA has begun shipping the core stage of the Space Launch System rocket intended for the Artemis III mission from its manufacturing facility in New Orleans to Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking a significant milestone in the agency’s effort to return humans to the Moon, the agency said in a press release.
Engineers at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility used specialized transporters to move the top four-fifths of the SLS core stage — containing the liquid hydrogen tank, liquid oxygen tank, intertank, and forward skirt — onto the agency’s Pegasus barge for the journey to Florida, NASA said. Once the hardware arrives at Kennedy Space Center, teams will complete stage outfitting and vertical integration before the Exploration Ground Systems Program stacks the rocket’s components ahead of launch.
The shipment comes on the heels of the recent test flight of NASA’s Artemis II mission around the Moon. Artemis III is planned to launch as part of NASA’s ongoing Artemis campaign, currently targeted for 2027.
When fully assembled, the core stage will stand 212 feet tall and include the engine section in addition to the top four-fifths now en route to Florida. The two propellant tanks together hold more than 733,000 gallons of super-chilled liquid propellant to power four RS-25 engines, according to NASA. During launch and ascent, the integrated stage will operate for more than eight minutes and generate more than 2 million pounds of thrust to propel astronauts aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft into orbit.
Construction of the core stage is a joint effort between two of NASA’s prime contractors. Boeing is responsible for the overall design and assembly of the stage, while L3Harris Technologies manufactures the RS-25 engines, NASA said. The agency added that recent announcements by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman have enabled it to standardize the SLS configuration, streamline operations, and accelerate Artemis program production.
The Artemis III mission will send astronauts to Earth orbit aboard Orion to test rendezvous and docking procedures with commercial spacecraft — capabilities NASA says are needed to land Artemis IV astronauts on the Moon in 2028. NASA describes SLS as the only rocket capable of carrying Orion, crew, and supplies to the Moon in a single launch.
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