NASA Prepares Massive Artemis III Rocket Stage for Historic Moon Mission

Major Milestone for Lunar Return

NASA will roll the largest section of the agency's SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, which will launch the second crewed Artemis mission, out of the agency's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans on Monday, April 20. This marks a critical step toward returning humans to the Moon for the first time in over half a century.

What's called the top four-fifths of the SLS core stage – the section containing the liquid hydrogen tank, liquid oxygen tank, intertank, and forward skirt – will be loaded on the agency's Pegasus barge for delivery to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The rocket stage with its four RS-25 engines will provide more than 2 million pounds of thrust to send astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis III mission.

Artemis III currently is scheduled for launch in 2027, following the successful Artemis II test flight mission around the Moon that concluded April 10. The timing represents a carefully orchestrated sequence of increasingly complex missions designed to establish a permanent human presence on the lunar surface.

Engineering Marvel Behind the Mission

The core stage is the backbone of the SLS rocket. All five major structures for the rocket stage are manufactured at NASA Michoud. Building, assembling, and transporting the core stage is a collaborative process for NASA, Boeing, the core stage lead contractor, and lead RS-25 engines contractor L3Harris Technologies.

The SLS rocket is the only rocket capable of sending Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single launch. This capability eliminates the need for complex orbital assembly operations, significantly reducing mission risks and complexity. The four core stage RS-25 engines are scheduled to ship from NASA's Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi no later than July 2026 for integration into the engine section.

By optimizing space at NASA Kennedy and NASA Michoud for production, integration, and outfitting, NASA and industry can streamline production for a standardized SLS configuration for NASA's Artemis program. This approach promises faster turnaround times and reduced costs for future missions.

Testing Critical Systems

The mission will launch crew in the Orion spacecraft on top of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket to test rendezvous and docking capabilities between Orion and the private commercial spacecraft needed to land astronauts on the Moon. These tests are essential for validating the complex choreography required for lunar surface operations.

Media will have the opportunity to capture images and video, hear remarks from agency and industry leadership, and speak with NASA subject matter experts and Artemis industry partners as crews move the rocket stage to the Pegasus barge. The event underscores NASA's commitment to transparency as it builds toward humanity's next chapter in space exploration.

Path to Mars and Beyond

Artemis III is the second crewed mission under the agency's Artemis program, where NASA is sending astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, establish an enduring human presence on the lunar surface, and build on our foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.

The rollout represents more than just moving hardware from one facility to another. It symbolizes the tangible progress toward establishing humanity as a multi-planetary species. Each component that moves closer to launch readiness brings us nearer to the day when astronauts will once again walk on another world, this time with the infrastructure and knowledge to stay.

As the massive rocket stage begins its journey to Florida, it carries with it the hopes and ambitions of a generation that grew up hearing stories of Apollo but never witnessing human space exploration beyond Earth orbit. The success of Artemis III will determine whether those stories become the foundation for an even greater adventure.