At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the final left and right forward solid rocket booster motor segments for Artemis III are integrated onto the mobile launcher for the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026.
By Dean Murray
NASA has reached a milestone in progress towards a mission to land astronauts on the Moon.
The final forward booster motor segments for the Artemis III mission have been integrated onto the mobile launcher for the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The SLS rocket's twin boosters, each made up of five segments manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Utah, will provide more than 75 percent of the rocket's total thrust at launch.
The Artemis III mission, scheduled for 2027, will launch crew in the Orion spacecraft on top of the SLS rocket to test rendezvous and docking capabilities between Orion and commercial spacecraft needed to land astronauts on the Moon.
The milestone moves NASA closer to landing Artemis IV astronauts on the Moon in 2028.
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