
ALT NASA’s Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft are seen illuminated by lights at Launch Complex 39B, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The rocket consists of an orange core stage that stands sandwiched between two white solid rocket boosters. The mobile launcher resembles a trussed structure behind the rocket. The evening sky is a cloudless blue in the background. An American flag is visible on the base of the mobile launcher. Credit: NASA/Keegan Barber

ALT Technicians from NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems use massive cranes inside the agency’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to lift the fully assembled SLS (Space Launch System) core stage vertically 225 feet above the ground from High Bay 2 to a horizontal position in the facility’s transfer aisle at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, March 14, 2025. The 212-foot core stage will undergo final checkouts before being lifted into the VAB’s High Bay 3 for integration alongside the completed stack of twin solid rocket booster segments. NASA/Kim Shiflett































