NASA Artemis III Rocket RS-25 Engine Arrival | Kennedy Space Center

NASA Artemis III Rocket RS-25 Engine Arrival | Kennedy Space Center

Teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida offloaded the second of four RS-25 Space Launch System (SLS) rocket engines built by L3 Harris Technologies for the agency's Artemis III mission on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, inside the spaceport’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). 

The SLS rocket will use four RS-25 engines in the core stage to propel the Orion spacecraft into orbit providing over two million pounds of thrust at liftoff. NASA plans to send Artemis astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery and economic benefits, to establish an enduring human presence on the lunar surface, and to build on our foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.

The Artemis III Mission is coming together, piece by piece . . .

Planned to launch in 2027, the Artemis III Mission will practice docking the Orion spacecraft with two lunar landers in low Earth orbit. 

On future missions, including Artemis IV in 2028, landers will bring astronauts to the lunar surface. While Artemis III will not land on the Moon, it will test the complex capabilities NASA needs to return—this time to stay.

Learn more about NASA’s Artemis program:

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis

Image Credit: NASA
Date: June 23, 2026

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