NASA’s much-anticipated Artemis II mission has experienced multiple delays in recent years, with the agency currently targeting no earlier than February 2026 for a flight that will send four astronauts on a voyage around the moon.
The Artemis II astronauts, as well as folks following the mission preparations, will be pleased to learn that NASA recently lifted the SLS rocket’s core stage into position, joining it to the two solid rocket boosters in essential work carried out inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center.
After moving the @NASA_SLS core stage north in the Vehicle Assembly Building transfer aisle, teams began lifting it with two of the facility’s overhead cranes, reorienting it into a vertical position. This is called a “breakover.” pic.twitter.com/phNH0nWcIU
— NASA's Exploration Ground Systems (@NASAGroundSys) March 25, 2025
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“The core stage is the largest component of the rocket, standing 212 feet tall,” NASA said in an update posted on its website this week. “The stage is the backbone of the rocket, supporting the launch vehicle stage adapter, interim cryogenic propulsion stage, Orion stage adapter, and the Orion spacecraft for the agency’s crewed Artemis II mission.”
Need a boost? 🚀
Teams lowered the @NASAArtemis II @NASA_SLS core stage onto mobile launcher 1 between the twin solid rocket boosters. The weight of the core stage is supported by the boosters, attaching with struts at several points. These struts that connect the hardware are… pic.twitter.com/ubs6cmo6uA
— NASA's Exploration Ground Systems (@NASAGroundSys) March 25, 2025
Artemis II
NASA’s successful Artemis I mission flew an uncrewed Orion spacecraft around the moon in 2022. The Artemis II test flight will send astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Jeremy Hansen on the same route, orbiting the moon before returning to Earth in a mission expected to last about 10 days.
The voyage will help to confirm the foundational systems and hardware needed for human deep space exploration, which could eventually involve crewed missions to Mars.
The immediate goal, however, is to return humans to the lunar surface in the Artemis III mission that NASA is currently targeting for 2027.
The Artemis II astronauts have been in training ever since they were announced for the mission in April 2023. NASA has been sharing occasional updates about their preparations, which have included work on safely exiting from the Orion spacecraft should an emergency situation occur immediately after splashdown at the end of the mission.
Gl0ver and Wiseman also recently appeared in a NASA video explaining how they’ll be putting the Orion spacecraft through its paces during what should be an incredible lunar adventure.