NASA Advances Artemis Moon Landing Goal with Booster Segment Integration
Technicians assemble key components of the Space Launch System rocket for upcoming crewed missions.
NASA is moving forward with its ambitious Artemis program, which aims to land astronauts on the moon, with recent progress on assembling the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Technicians integrated the left forward booster segment for the SLS rocket with the left booster segments atop the mobile launcher at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday.
This assembly is a crucial step for the crewed Artemis III mission, scheduled for 2027. The SLS rocket's twin boosters, each composed of five segments manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Utah, are designed to generate over 75 percent of the rocket’s thrust at launch.
The Artemis III mission will send astronauts into Earth orbit aboard the Orion spacecraft, which sits atop the SLS rocket. The mission will test rendezvous and docking capabilities between Orion and commercial spacecraft, a key development towards NASA’s objective of landing Artemis IV astronauts on the moon in 2028.
Earlier this year, NASA successfully completed the Artemis II test flight, where astronauts circled the moon. The Artemis II mission, which launched on April 1, 2026, marked the first crewed voyage of NASA’s Orion spacecraft. The crew included NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. During the mission, the crew flew around the moon, gathering valuable data and experience for future lunar endeavors.