NASA Moves SLS Rocket Core Stage To Florida

The core stage of the SLS rocket was delivered to the Kennedy Space Center (photo: dock. NASA)

NASA issued the core stage of the Space Launch System (SLS), a rocket for the Artemis 2 mission, from its New Orleans production facility on July 16. This stage will be delivered to a spaceport in Florida. The technicians used a special carrier to move the core stage of the SLS rocket into NASA's Pegasus barge. Although this core stage is the largest part of the rocket that NASA has ever produced, this rocket stage could be moved without a problem. The Pegasus Block will travel 900 miles to deliver the stage to the Kennedy Space Center. Once it arrives at Kennedy, this stage will be paired to the Orion rocket and spacecraft element. "The technicians will combine it with segments that formed the rocket boosters of the twin rockets. The adaptor to the Moon rocket connecting it to the Orion spacecraft will be delivered to Kennedy this fall season," NASA said.

NASA added, the cryogenic propulsion stage is currently in the facility. While waiting for the core stages of the rocket to arrive at Kennedy, technicians will continue to prepare Orion and the ground exploration system for launch and flight. The structure of the SLS core stage is produced at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility. During building and assembling this stage, NASA is working with Boeing and Aerojet Rocketdyne, the main contractor of the RS-25 engine. The SLS rocket core stage is the largest stage NASA has ever produced with a height of 212 feet. When launched for the Artemis 2 mission, this stage will be operational for more than eight minutes to generate more than 2 million pounds of thrust in order for Orion to fly.