Boeing Delivers Rocket for Moon Mission to NASA

Boeing has delivered the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s core stage to NASA, marking a significant step towards the Artemis II mission to send humans to orbit the Moon for the first time since the Apollo era in the 1970s.

The core stage of the SLS rocket was shipped from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Standing at 212 feet tall, the core stage includes massive tanks holding over 733,000 gallons of liquid propellant.

Once in Florida, it will be integrated with other Artemis II components, including the upper stage, solid rocket boosters, and NASA’s Orion spacecraft inside the Vehicle Assembly Building. This integration is a crucial step in preparing for the Artemis II launch, currently scheduled for sometime next year.

“Boeing-built products helped land humankind on the moon in 1969, and we’re proud to continue that legacy through the Artemis generation,” said Dave Dutcher, vice president and program manager for Boeing’s SLS program.

The Boeing-built Space Launch System (SLS) is, not surprisingly, far more powerful than the Apollo-era Saturn V rockets and can lift heavy payloads to deep space. The rocket’s Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) will boost the Orion spacecraft towards the Moon after the core stage separates.

Once it approaches the Moon, Orion will perform a flyby and return to Earth, testing critical systems for future deep space missions. Artemis II will slingshot NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen around the Moon.

Artemis will be the first time in 50 years that humans have orbited the Moon. The mission will also include both a female astronaut and an astronaut of color.

“We are motivated by the success of Artemis I and focused on working toward the first crewed flight under Artemis,” said John Honeycutt, SLS program manager at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.

NASA’s Artemis program aims to eventually establish a long-term presence on the lunar surface, conduct extensive scientific research and develop new technologies for future missions to Mars. If everything goes as planned — never a sure thing in spaceflight, as Boeing can attest — astronauts will step foot on the Moon on Artemis III in late 2026.

Boeing is NASA’s prime contractor for the design, development, testing, and production of the SLS core stage, upper stages and flight avionics suite. In November 2022, Boeing’s rockets successfully launched as part of the Artemis I mission, an uncrewed test flight to validate the rocket components and systems for future crewed missions.

Boeing is currently building the core stages for Artemis II, III, IV, and V, as well as the first Exploration Upper Stage, which will replace the ICPS in future Artemis missions.

Boeing is also working on the Boeing Starliner, which transports astronauts to the International Space Station. That program has faced several setbacks.

NASA test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams launched aboard the Starliner capsule early last month as first people to ride it. Helium leaks and thruster failures almost derailed their arrival at the International Space Station, and they have stayed there much longer than planned, with still no date set for their return to Earth.

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