Jerry Petersen
Boeing has finished building the core stage of the Space Launch System rocket for NASA’s Artemis II mission, which aims to send four astronauts into lunar orbit by 2025 and test various deep space mission capabilities.
More than 200 feet in height and powered by two solid-fueled booster rockets and four RS-25 engines, the core stage is the largest component of the Artemis II mission, Boeing said Tuesday.
The rocket stage was built at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana and will be transported by barge to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where it will be integrated with other mission components, like the Orion spacecraft, at the Vehicle Assembly Building.
The newly-built core stage is the second Boeing has provided for NASA’s Artemis series of missions. The first was built for Artemis I, which was launched in November 2022 and was completed in early December.
