NASA is preparing space at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for upcoming assembly activities of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket core stage for future Artemis missions, beginning with Artemis III.
Teams are currently outfitting the Assembly Building’s High Bay 2 for the future vertical assembly of the rocket stage that will power NASA’s Artemis campaign to the Moon. During Apollo, High Bay 2, one of four high bays in the Vehicle Assembly Building, was used to stack the Saturn V rocket. During the Space Shuttle program, the high bay storage facility was used to check and store external tanks and as emergency storage for the Shuttle.
Michigan-based Futuramic is designing the tooling that will hold the core stage in a vertical position so NASA and Boeing, the prime contractor for the SLS core stage, can integrate the SLS rocket’s engine section and four RS-25 engines and complete assembly of the rocket stage. Vertical integration will streamline final production efforts and provide engineers with 360-degree access to the stage both internally and externally.
“The High Bay 2 area at NASA Kennedy is critical for work as SLS transitions from a development to an operational model,” said Chad Bryant, deputy director of the SLS Stages Office. “While teams are stacking and preparing the SLS rocket for launch on one Artemis mission, across the aisle, the SLS core stage is taking shape for another Artemis mission.”
Under the new assembly model beginning with Artemis III, all major structures of the SLS core stage will continue to be entirely fabricated and manufactured at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. After fabrication and thermal protection system application are complete, the engine section will be shipped to NASA Kennedy for final assembly. Later, the upper sections of the core stage – the forward skirt section, intertank, liquid oxygen tank, and liquid hydrogen tank – will be assembled and mated at NASA Michoud and shipped to NASA Kennedy for final assembly.
The fully assembled main stage for Artemis II arrived at Kennedy on July 23. NASA’s Pegasus ship delivered the SLS engine section for Artemis III to Kennedy in December 2022. Teams at NASA Michoud are outfitting the remaining elements of the main stage and preparing to connect them horizontally. The four RS-25 engines for the Artemis III mission were completed at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and will be transported to NASA Kennedy in 2025. Major structures of the main stage and exploration upper stage for Artemis IV and beyond are being worked on at NASA Michoud.
NASA is working with Artemis to land the first woman, the first person of color, and their first international partner astronaut on the moon. SLS is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration, along with the Orion spacecraft, supporting ground systems, advanced spacesuits and rovers, the Gateway in orbit around the moon, and commercial human landing systems. SLS is the only rocket capable of delivering Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the moon in a single launch.
Jonathan Deal
Marshall Space Center
Huntsville, Alabama.
256-544-0034
