NASA is choosing up the tempo on its Artemis III mission preparations, urgent ahead on a number of fronts to assemble launch car {hardware} and starting routine simulations inside Artemis mission management.
The company is “full steam forward,” in keeping with a July 13 NASA update. Throughout Kennedy Area Heart (KSC) in Florida, parts of Artemis III’s Area Launch System (SLS) rocket are coming collectively, present process checks and awaiting transportation for ultimate integration forward of subsequent 12 months’s launch. NASA is concentrating on mid-to-late 2027 for Artemis III, which can launch 4 astronauts into low Earth orbit (LEO) aboard the Orion spacecraft. It will likely be the second crewed mission of NASA’s Artemis program, which goals to determine a everlasting human presence on the moon.
Artemis III will likely be a essential stepping stone in NASA’s lunar touchdown structure, regardless of the mission not really flying to the moon. As an alternative, SLS will launch Orion and its four-person crew into LEO for rendezvous and docking operations with this system’s two business lunar lander automobiles: SpaceX‘s Starship and Blue Origin‘s Blue Moon spacecraft.
With the completion of the massively successful Artemis II mission that flew astronauts around the moon in April and the second half of 2026 beginning to count down, NASA has shifted into full gear to complete assembly and testing of the hardware that will launch Artemis III.
Several components for the mission’s SLS rocket have arrived in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at KSC. The SLS core stage was delivered at the end of April, and it was connected with the rocket’s engine block section in May. The first two of the core stage’s four RS-25 engines arrived in June and will be installed on the SLS engine block once the remaining two are delivered, after which NASA plans to begin integration with the mobile launch platform (MLP) and launch operations tests. A temporary weather cap was also delivered in June, which will protect the stage when NASA transports it to the launch pad for tests before the full vehicle is stacked.
The bottom segments of both SLS solid rocket boosters (SRBs) were delivered over the last week, and they have been mounted on the MLP, according to NASA’s update. The upper SRB segments arrived at KSC via train in June and will undergo inspection and testing before the twin boosters are fully stacked.
Per NASA: Artemis launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson participates in the launch countdown simulation on July 2, 2026, in Firing Room 1 of the Launch Control Center.
Image credit: NASA/Chad Siwik
Per NASA: Employees pose for a photograph following work inside the VAB to secure the left-hand aft assembly solid rocket booster segment to the mobile launcher at the VAB on July 9, 2026.
Image credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
Per NASA: The left-hand and right-hand aft assembly solid rocket booster segments for NASA’s Artemis III SLS (Space Launch System) rocket are secured to the mobile launcher at the agency’s Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 11, 2026.
Image credit: NASA/Frank Michaux
Per NASA: Artemis III astronauts Randy Bresnik and Andre Douglas visit the Multi-Payload Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on July 10, 2026.
Image credit: NASA/Cory Huston
Inside KSC’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building, the Artemis III Orion is making significant progress — engineers have now finished installation of the spacecraft’s heat shield.
Artemis III will be the first Orion mission to use an upgraded heat shield, featuring design improvements gleaned from analysis of unexpected wear on the heat shield flown on Artemis I. Orion’s service module is also currently inside the Operations and Checkout Building and recently completed acoustic testing. Both the service module and Orion capsule are now being prepared for joining and eventual transportation to the VAB for stacking.
The pieces for Artemis III are coming together at @NASAKennedy.The twin solid rocket boosters? They’re getting stacked.The launch team? They’re simulating the countdown.The heat shield? It’s now attached to the Orion spacecraft.Full steam ahead for Artemis III. pic.twitter.com/2f92kv6HEiJuly 13, 2026
On the personnel facet of issues, Artemis III crew members at KSC have begun month-to-month launch simulation checks to hone procedures for SLS propellant loading, terminal depend operations (the ultimate 10 minutes previous to liftoff) and launch day operations. These checks will proceed usually main as much as Artemis III’s launch subsequent 12 months, in keeping with NASA.
As groups throughout NASA are busy readying all of the items for Artemis III, others are looking forward to this system’s first lunar touchdown, deliberate for Artemis IV. That mission, scheduled for late 2028, will ship a crew of astronauts to the floor of the moon for the primary time since 1972. The SLS that can get them there’s additionally coming collectively piece by piece.
The liquid oxygen (LOX) tank for the Artemis IV SLS core stage was recently relocated inside NASA’s Michoud Meeting Facility in New Orleans, positioning the tank for testing because it enters its subsequent section of manufacturing.
