NASA Artemis III RS-25 SLS Rocket Engine Install | Kennedy Space Center
Technicians prepare to transfer the #2 RS-25 Space Launch System (SLS) rocket engine (front) to the work stand with the #3 engine (back) for integration with the Artemis III core stage rocket on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The first of four RS-25 Space Launch System (SLS) rocket engines, is installed on the work stand and integrated with the Artemis III core stage rocket on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Technicians lift and transfer the #2 RS-25 Space Launch System (SLS) rocket engine (back) to the work stand. Visible in the foreground is the #3 engine already integrated with the Artemis III core stage rocket on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026.
Technicians prepare the #2 RS-25 Space Launch System (SLS) rocket engine for transfer onto a work stand ahead of integration with the Artemis III core stage rocket on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026.
Technicians lift and transfer the #2 RS-25 Space Launch System (SLS) rocket engine (back) to the work stand. Visible in the foreground is the #3 engine already integrated with the Artemis III core stage rocket on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026.
During late August 2026, technicians at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida began the installation of the four RS-25 engines in the core stage of the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket that will launch the Artemis III crew next year. These engines will generate more than two million pounds of thrust at liftoff.
The milestone on Aug. 24 marked the next phase of core stage integration following the mating of the engine section to the top four-fifths of the stage earlier this summer. Inside High Bay 2 at the spaceport’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), teams will continue installing the remaining engines, as well as the propulsion and electrical systems throughout the stage.
Weighing in at approximately 7,700 pounds, each engine produces nearly 500,000 pounds of thrust. All four engines are located at the base of the SLS and are integrated inside the engine section. Built to withstand the extreme conditions during launch, this section protects the engines from severe temperatures. During ascent, the engines fire continuously for more than eight minutes, consuming propellant from the core stage’s two massive propellant tanks at a rate of approximately 1,500 gallons per second.
Each RS-25 engine carries a unique serial number that traces its detailed flight history. The four engines assigned to Artemis III, including E2054, E2057, E2048, and E2052, previously powered multiple shuttle missions. Engine 2048 helped power NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik’s previous mission on space shuttle Atlantis during the STS-129 mission. The engine also powered Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-95 in 1998, which was the mission that returned 77-year-old space pioneer U.S. Sen. John Glenn to orbit, making him the oldest person to fly in space at the time.
Technicians also continue to integrate the twin solid rocket booster motor segments atop the mobile launcher inside the VAB. Teams began stacking the segments in early July and are now more than halfway complete after streamlining processes and procedures learned from previous Artemis launches.
Progress on the Orion spacecraft continues after the recent integration of the crew and service modules. Technicians recently installed the umbilical connector, which bridges the electrical, data, and fluid systems between the two modules, and installed its electrical connectors and fluid lines. Teams powered on the spacecraft for the first time since joining the two components to ensure electrical connectivity through the umbilical mechanism and that the communications of the subsystems between the crew and service module work as planned.
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:
Image Credit: NASA/Clayton Rougelot
Release Date: Aug. 27, 2026
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