Artemis I SLS Core Stage Lift/Mate Ops

The Space Launch System (SLS) core stage is seen atop the mobile launcher inside High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 15, 2021. Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs lifted and lowered the core stage – the largest part of the rocket – onto the mobile launcher, placing it in between the twin solid rocket boosters. The 188,000-pound core stage, with its four RS-25 engines, will provide more than 2 million pounds of thrust during launch and ascent, and coupled with the boosters, will provide more than 8.8 million pounds of thrust to send the Artemis I mission to space. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon, as well as establish a sustainable presence on the lunar surface in preparation for human missions to Mars.