Core Stage for SLS Arrives at Kennedy Space Center
The core stage for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) has arrived at Kennedy Space Center. The Boeing-built core stage was transported by a barge to the launch site and has been unloaded and moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building.
"With the delivery of the core stage, the Artemis I launch is within sight, and the excitement level is high."
Jacobs Critical Mission Solutions Senior Vice President Steve Arnette.
The 212-foot SLS core stage will be stacked with a Boeing/United Launch Alliance Interim Cryogenic Upper Stage, two solid rocket boosters, a Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter and the Orion spacecraft. Teams will prepare the SLS to launch Orion on an uncrewed mission around the moon and back called Artemis I.
The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS rocket as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the moon for sustained exploration. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts and cargo to the moon in a single mission.
Boeing is the prime contractor to NASA for the SLS core and upper stages and avionics. The company is joining major elements for the Artemis II core stage now at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, while manufacturing core stage elements for Artemis III. The company also is working on evolvable capabilities for the rocket system such as the Exploration Upper Stage, which is entering production at Michoud.
Assembly and integration of the first SLS core stage will be conducted by Jacobs, the Artemis prime contractor at KSC for NASA's Exploration Ground Systems. The company will also conduct final tests and checkouts before the launch system is transported to launch pad 39B.
The Jacobs team is currently preparing Orion for launch, and has finished processing and stacking the Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) segments.
"With the delivery of the core stage, the Artemis I launch is within sight, and the excitement level is high," said Jacobs Critical Mission Solutions Senior Vice President Steve Arnette. "From the technicians doing the hands-on work, to the engineers ensuring the operations are conducted safely and successfully, to the team in the Launch Control Center firing rooms who are monitoring and coordinating all launch prep activities, the entire Jacobs team is committed to the success of this important milestone in NASA's goal to return humans to the lunar surface – and beyond."
(Source: Boeing and Jacobs news releases. Image provided by NASA)