Tag: Space Launch System
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NASA waves off February launch for Artemis II moon mission; now targeting early March
NASA’s Space Launch System rocket stands atop pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center. After working around a hydrogen leak at the base of the rocket, engineers spent the day Monday pumping more than 750,000 gallons of supercold liquid oxygen and hydrogen fuel into the 32-story-tall launcher in a dress rehearsal countdown. How the leak…
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Countdown underway for critical moon rocket fueling test Monday
A full moon rises behind NASA’s Space Launch System moon rocket atop pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center. If a practice countdown and fueling test Monday go well, NASA is expected to press ahead with launch of the Artemis 2 mission on Feb. 8, sending four astronauts on a flight around the moon. Image:…
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Eastern Range ready for same day fueling of Space Launch System, Vulcan rockets
NASA’s Space Launch System rocket at Launch Complex 39B (left) and United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket inside its Vertical Integration Facility (right): Image: NASA/Keegan Barber (left), United Launch Alliance (right) Update Jan. 24, 8:40 p.m. EST (0140 UTC): Added additional comment from Col. Bulson. February 2026 is shaping up to be a blockbuster month for…
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NASA Rolls Artemis II Moon Rocket to Launchpad as Final Preparations Begin
NASA on Saturday began the final phase of launch preparations for its Artemis II mission, moving the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket toward its Florida launchpad ahead of the first crewed flight under its lunar return programme. The 322-foot-tall SLS rocket was rolled out of the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center…
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‘The start of a very long journey’: NASA’s Artemis moon rocket makes the slow trip to its launch pad
NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and its mobile launcher head for the launch pad. (NASA Photo / Keegan Barber) NASA’s massive Space Launch System rocket crept to its Florida launch pad today at a top speed of about 1 mph, marking the first step in a journey that will eventually send astronauts around the moon…
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NASA Prepares Artemis 2 for February Lunar Mission After Schedule Acceleration
NASA is entering the final phase of preparations for its Artemis 2 mission, the first crewed flight toward the Moon in more than 50 years, as the agency moves up its launch timeline to February 2026. The U.S. space agency had previously targeted April 2026 for the mission, which will send four astronauts on a…
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Lego announces NASA Artemis SLS rocket set to lift off (literally) in 2026
How do you top a highly detailed scale model of NASA’s new moon-bound rocket and its support tower? If you’re Lego, you make it so it can actually lift off. Lego’s NASA Artemis Space Launch System Rocket, part of its Technic line of advanced building sets, will land on store shelves for $60 on January…
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Final ML-2 tower module added as Artemis and SLS Block 1B receive a funding reprieve
Mobile Launcher 2 (ML-2), the launch tower and platform to be used by the Block 1B variant of the Space Launch System (SLS), recently had its tenth and final tower module stacked on July 2. Module 10 will support the Orion crew access arm and related systems, and its installation brings the ML-2 tower’s height…
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Northrop Grumman tests SLS Block 2 BOLE booster in Utah; nozzle issue seen
Northrop Grumman conducted the first test firing of its Booster Obsolescence and Life Extension (BOLE) five-segment solid rocket motor at its Promontory production and test site in Utah. The Development Motor 1 (DM-1) fired Thursday, June 26, at 12:25 PM MDT (18:25 UTC) and lasted for close to two minutes and 20 seconds, burning over…
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Rocket Report: Rocket Lab to demo cargo delivery; America’s new ICBM in trouble
Welcome to Edition 7.43 of the Rocket Report! There’s been a lot of recent news in hypersonic testing. We cover some of that in this week’s newsletter, which is just a taste of the US military’s appetite for fielding its own hypersonic weapons, and conversely, the Pentagon’s emphasis on the detection and destruction of an…