Artemis 3 SLS rocket’s core stage arrives in Florida for 2027 launch (photo)

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The centerpiece of NASA’s next moon rocket has reached the launch site.

The top 80% of the main stage of the Space Launch System (SLS) which will launch the crew Artemis 3 the mission arrived at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida Monday April 27.

The rocket stage arrived after a weeklong journey aboard the Pegasus barge, which traveled 900 miles (1,450 kilometers) from the NASA site. Michoud assembly center in New Orleans.

The newly arrived hardware will be moved today (April 28) to KSC’s cavernous vehicle assembly building, where crews will pair it with its engine section. This work will complete the assembly of the 212-foot-tall (64.6-meter-tall) SLS Center Stage.

Although SLS is a moon rocket, this particular vehicle will not approach Earth’s nearest neighbor. Artemis 3 will remain in Earth orbit, where it will test rendezvous and docking operations between Orion capsule and one or both of Artemis Programprivately developed crewed lunar landers, those of SpaceX Spacecraft and Blue Origin Blue Moon.

NASA had targeted mid-2027 for the launch of Artemis 3, but this timetable now appears to be outdated. slipped to end of 2027 to give Starship and Blue Moon more time to prepare.

If all goes well with Artemis 3, Artemis 4 will carry astronauts the moonusing Starship or Blue Moon, from 2028.

This preparation work for Artemis 3 follows Artemis 2which launched four astronauts on an epic flight around the Moon.

Artemis 2 took off on April 1 and splashed off the coast of San Diego on April 10. It was the first crewed mission beyond Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972, and it established a new distance record for humanitysending the astronauts 252,760 miles (406,778 kilometers) from their home planet.