Artemis III SLS core stage joins boosters at Kennedy

NASA said in an announcement published Wednesday 28 October 2026 that its Artemis III SLS (Space Launch System) core stage was integrated alongside the twin solid rocket boosters on Oct. 28. The work took place inside the Vehicle Assembly Building’s High Bay 3 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The stage and booster stack were placed on the mobile launcher.

Technicians lifted the 212-foot rocket stage from the facility’s High Bay 2. They used a one-of-a kind lifting beam designed to place the stage onto the mobile launcher. The stage was then positioned alongside the twin solid rocket boosters. The lifting operation moved the stage from High Bay 2 to the mobile launcher.

Once testing and checkouts are complete, teams will roll the core stage and booster stack out to Launch Pad 39B. They will conduct a tanking test there. Liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen fuel will be loaded only into the core stage. The boosters will remain part of the stack during the test.

Launch teams will practice countdown procedures and timelines during the test. This work will take place at Launch Pad 39B after the core stage and booster stack is rolled out of the Vehicle Assembly Building.

The Artemis III mission will launch NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik, Frank Rubio, Andre Douglas, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Luca Parmitano. The astronauts will fly in the Orion spacecraft on top of the SLS rocket. Orion will carry them on the Artemis III mission.

The mission will test rendezvous and docking capabilities between Orion and commercial spacecraft from Blue Origin and SpaceX. The test is ahead of a future mission to land astronauts on the Moon.