NASA Rolls Out Artemis III Rocket Core Stage | Michoud Assembly Facility
NASA moved the core stage, or the largest section, of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket that will launch the crewed Artemis III mission in 2027 from the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility to the agency’s Pegasus barge in New Orleans, Louisiana, on April 20, 2026. The barge will ferry the top four-fifths—the section containing the liquid hydrogen tank, liquid oxygen tank, intertank, and forward skirt—of the SLS core stage to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to complete outfitting and vertical integration.
Teams with NASA and Boeing, the SLS core stage lead contractor, used specialized transporters to guide the top four-fifths from the NASA rocket factory to Pegasus. Prior to the move, technicians added an engine section transportation simulator to the rocket stage for shipment to the Space Coast.
Next year’s Artemis III mission will launch astronauts to Earth orbit aboard the Orion spacecraft on top of SLS to test rendezvous and docking capabilities between Orion and commercial spacecraft needed to land Artemis IV astronauts on the Moon in 2028. NASA’s SLS is the only rocket capable of sending Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single launch.
NASA will announce specifics on the Artemis III mission design and crew closer to the 2027 launch. It is anticipated that NASA's Artemis III mission in low Earth orbit will test integrated operations between the Orion spacecraft and one or both commercial landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin, respectively.
Learn more: https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-iii/
Duration: 1 minute, 32 seconds
Date: April 20, 2026
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