NASA Artemis SLS RS‑25 Moon Rocket Engine Hot Fire Test | Stennis Space Center

NASA Artemis SLS RS‑25 Moon Rocket Engine Hot Fire Test | Stennis Space Center

🚀"Feel the Power of an RS‑25 Hot Fire Test!"🔥

"We successfully tested RS-25 engine No. 10001 on Oct. 21, 2026, on the Fred Haise Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi."

"The main objectives of the test were to acceptance test RS-25 flight components for future NASA Artemis missions and to validate the new thermal protection system. It protects the RS-25 engine nozzle from the thermal environment surrounding NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket during launch."

While this developmental engine will not be used in flight, the hot fire test provides NASA and prime engine contractor L3Harris Technologies with the capability to capture critical data to improve engine performance and reliability.

Did you know?

• For each Artemis mission, four RS-25 engines, along with a pair of solid rocket boosters, power NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to produce more than 8.8 million pounds of total combined thrust at liftoff. 

• Hot fires at NASA Stennis provide critical performance data to ensure safety and success.

All RS-25 engines are tested and proven flightworthy at NASA Stennis. The test was conducted by a team of operators from NASA, L3Harris, and Syncom Space Services, prime contractor for site facilities and operations.

RS-25 engines are evolved space shuttle main engines, upgraded with new components to produce the additional power needed to help launch NASA’s SLS rocket. The first four Artemis missions are using modified space shuttle main engines also tested at NASA Stennis. For each Artemis mission, four RS-25 engines, along with a pair of solid rocket boosters, power the SLS rocket, producing more than 8.8 million pounds of total combined thrust at liftoff.

Learn about the Artemis program and America's return to the Moon: https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/artemis/

Video Credit: NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center
Duration: 43 seconds
Release Date: Oct. 21, 2026

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