Tag: Vehicle Assembly Building
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SLS rocket hauled back to VAB for repairs
NASA’s crawler-transporter 2, carrying NASA’s Artemis 2 SLS (Space Launch System) rocket with the Orion spacecraft secured to mobile launcher 1, rolls back Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, to the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to troubleshoot the flow of helium to the rocket’s upper stage, the interim cryogenic propulsion stage.…
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Orion spacecraft arrives at VAB ahead of stacking for Artemis 2
NASA’s Orion spacecraft, named ‘Integrity’ by her crew, rolled about seven miles from the Launch Abort System Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Oct. 16, 2025. The spacecraft will be the first crewed vehicle to travel to the Moon since Apollo 17, when it launches on the Artemis 2…
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NASA is stacking the Artemis II rocket, implying a simple heat shield fix
The Space Launch System rocket that will dispatch four astronauts on the first Moon mission in more than 50 years passed a major milestone Wednesday. NASA said ground teams inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida lifted the aft assembly of the rocket’s left booster onto the mobile launch platform.…
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NASA’s ML-1 Completes Testing at LC-39B ahead of SLS Stacking
NASA’s Mobile Launcher-1, or ML-1, has rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building after completing a series of tests at Launch Complex-39B (LC-39B). This marks the last trip to the launch pad for ML-1 until the first fully stacked Space Launch System rocket rolls out for the Artemis I mission. (Lead photo via Stephen Marr…
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SLS launch platform returns to pad 39B
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated Sept. 11 with pad arrival. The Space Launch System’s mobile tower emerged from the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday morning to begin the 4.2-mile trip back to pad 39B. Credit: Spaceflight Now The towering mobile platform for NASA’s Space Launch System emerged from the Vehicle Assembly Building at…
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Orbital ATK eyes Kennedy Space Center as home of potential new launcher
File photo of the Vehicle Assembly Building with a crawler-transporter in the foreground. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett NASA announced Thursday that Orbital ATK has begun negotiations to lease a disused section of Kennedy Space Center’s iconic Vehicle Assembly Building and an Apollo-era launch platform for the company’s proposed next-generation rocket. The space agency said it selected…