Update: Artemis III Moon Rocket's Core Stage Now Sits Between Its Boosters at Kennedy

NASA joined the Artemis III SLS core stage with the twin solid rocket boosters on Oct. 28 inside High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA said, readying the rocket for a fueling test. SLS is the Space Launch System. This follows our October 25 report on the mission plan.

NASA's release says technicians lifted the 212-foot core stage out of High Bay 2 with a one-of-a-kind lifting beam built for the job. They set it onto the mobile launcher alongside the boosters. NASA credits photos to Sean Cannon, Cory S Huston and Frank Michaux. The release gives no clock time for the lift.

One detail shows how the work moves. NASA's release says the core stage went to the mobile launcher from High Bay 2, not from the bay where it was stacked, so the stage had to be carried from one bay to the other.

Coverage of the milestone also described the stage as the rocket's central body, and said joining it to the boosters does not mean the rocket is ready to fly. NASA's release points to testing and checkouts still ahead.

What is next

Once testing and checkouts finish, NASA says, teams will roll the core stage and booster stack out to Launch Pad 39B for a tanking test. Liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen go into the core stage only, and launch teams will practice countdown procedures and timelines. NASA's release gives no date for the rollout or the test.

Artemis III will send NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik, Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Luca Parmitano, to test rendezvous and docking between Orion and commercial spacecraft from Blue Origin and SpaceX, NASA says.

Stay curious.

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