The Latest Update on the Third SLS Core Stage Booster...

NASA / Clayton Rougelot

Artemis III RS-25 Engine Processing: #3 Lift (Photo Release)

The first of four RS-25 SLS (Space Launch System) rocket engines is installed on the work stand and integrated with the Artemis III core stage rocket on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

During Artemis III, the four RS‑25 engines will launch the Orion spacecraft and its crew of four into low-Earth orbit, generating more than two million pounds of thrust at liftoff.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA / Clayton Rougelot


NASA / Clayton Rougelot


NASA / Clayton Rougelot


NASA / Clayton Rougelot


NASA / Clayton Rougelot

Assembly Has Begun on the Sixth Space Launch System!

Michael DeMocker

Production Begins on Artemis VI Core Stage Hardware (Photo Release)

Teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans continue to make progress manufacturing core stages for the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. In August, teams with NASA and Boeing, SLS core stage prime contractor, completed the first ring for the sixth SLS core stage. The core stage rings are welded together through a friction-stir welding process.

A completed ring is 27.6 feet in diameter and serves as a connection point to join the large core stage structures together. The rings also provide structural stability to the bottom of the domes.

The 212-foot-tall SLS rocket core stage is made up of 10 major barrel sections, four dome sections, and seven rings. The components come together to form the five major sections of the core stage – the engine section, liquid hydrogen tank, intertank, liquid oxygen tank, and forward skirt.

Source: NASA.Gov

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Michael DeMocker

Assembly of the Twin SRBs for the Next SLS Rocket Moves Closer to Completion...

NASA / Cory Huston

Artemis III Nose Cone Arrival (Photo Release)

The left, with black stripe, and right aerodynamic forward assemblies for the twin SLS (Space Launch System) solid rocket boosters for Artemis III arrive at the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida - on Thursday, August 13, 2026.

The nose cones will be integrated atop the SLS boosters to provide a smooth, pointed shape that allows the boosters to cut through the atmosphere efficiently, reducing drag and keeping the rocket stable during ascent.

Artemis III will carry out a series of objectives in low-Earth orbit designed to demonstrate critical systems needed for future lunar landings, beginning with Artemis IV. 

Source: NASA.Gov

Both SRBs Continue to be Stacked on the Mobile Launcher for the Next Flight of SLS...

NASA / Cory S Huston

Assembly of the Artemis III SLS rocket RAC (Photo Release)

In High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the left and right aft center booster segments for Artemis III are lowered onto their aft assembly segments for integration on the Mobile Launcher for the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket on Wednesday, August 12, 2026.

The twin boosters, comprising of five segments each manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Utah, will provide more than 75 percent of the SLS rocket’s total thrust at launch.

The Artemis III mission will launch crew in the Orion spacecraft on top of the SLS rocket to test rendezvous and docking capabilities between Orion and commercial spacecraft needed to land astronauts on the Moon.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA / Cory S Huston

The Latest Update on the Fifth Space Launch System...

Morgan Parker

Artemis V Engine Section Barrel Enters Vertical Assembly Center (Photo Release)

Teams at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans load the 25-foot-long engine section barrel into the vertical assembly center on August 5, 2026. The engine section will be used on the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket’s core stage for the agency’s Artemis V mission. On the vertical assembly center tooling, teams will mate the flight hardware to a ring, which will serve as an attachment point for the liquid hydrogen tank later in the production process.

The engine section is one of five major elements that make up the 212-foot-tall SLS rocket stage; and houses various avionic systems, the engine thrust structure, and four RS-25 engines. The core stage produces more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit and to the lunar surface for Artemis.

Source: NASA.Gov

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Morgan Parker

ISS Update: Science Experiments on the Orbital Outpost Contribute to Medical Breakthroughs Down on Earth...

NASA

Space Station Research Informs New FDA-Approved Cancer Therapy (News Release)

NASA opens the International Space Station for scientists and researchers, inviting them to use the benefits of microgravity for commercial and public research, technology demonstrations, and more. Today, a portion of the crew’s time aboard station is devoted to private industry, including medical research that addresses complex health challenges on Earth and prepares astronauts for future deep space missions.

In collaboration with scientists at Merck, protein crystal growth research on the space station yielded early insights regarding the structure and size of particles best suited for the development of a new formulation of the company’s cancer medicine pembrolizumab for subcutaneous injection. This new route of delivery was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last September and offers a time-saving alternative to intravenous infusion for certain patients. These research efforts aboard the space station were supported by the ISS National Laboratory.

Originally, the treatment was delivered during an in-office visit via infusion therapy into the patient’s veins, a process that could take up to two hours. Initial delivery improvements reduced infusion times to less than 30 minutes every three weeks. The newly-approved subcutaneous injectable form takes about one minute every three weeks, promising to improve quality of life for patients by reducing cost and significantly reducing treatment time for patients and healthcare providers.

Since 2014, Merck has flown crystal growth experiments to the space station to better understand how crystals form, including the monoclonal antibody used in this cancer treatment. Monoclonal antibodies are lab-made proteins that help the body fight diseases. This research focused on producing crystalline suspensions that dissolve easily in liquid, making it possible to deliver the medication by injection.

In microgravity, the absence of gravity’s physical forces allows scientists to grow larger, more uniform, and higher-quality crystals than those grown in ground-based labs, advancing medication development and structural modeling.

Research aboard the space station has provided valuable insights into how gravity influences crystallization, helping to improve drug formulations. The work of NASA and its partners aboard the space station improves lives on Earth, grows a commercial economy in low-Earth orbit, and prepares for human exploration of the Moon and Mars.

Source: NASA.Gov

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Merck

The Latest Update on the Next Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle...

NASA / Amber Jean Notvest

Artemis III Orion Crew and Service Module Mate (Photo Release)

Engineers finish connecting the Artemis III Orion crew and service modules on Friday, July 31, 2026, inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Now integrated, the team will power up the combined crew and service module for the first time then begin altitude chamber testing, which will put the spacecraft through conditions as close as possible to the environment that it will experience in low-Earth orbit.

Artemis III and the four-person crew will carry out a series of objectives in low-Earth orbit designed to demonstrate critical systems needed for future lunar landings, beginning with Artemis IV. 

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA / Amber Jean Notvest

A Successful Flight for Starship Today...

SpaceX

Cool image. I look forward to seeing a similar shot of Starship (minus the Raptor engines firing since the vehicle will already be parked in low-Earth orbit) as well as Blue Origin's Blue Moon lander from aboard the Orion capsule on NASA's Artemis 3 mission next year!

Splashdown confirmed! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on the 13th flight test of Starship! pic.twitter.com/g27YJCQgiN

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 24, 2026

Another Update on the Third SLS Core Stage Booster...

NASA / Sam Lott

NASA Technicians Weld Final Panel for New SLS Hardware (Photo Release)

These images show the spacer that will be used on NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) for the Artemis III mission.

At NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, technicians complete the eighth and final friction stir weld on the barrel section. With the barrel now removed from the Vertical Weld Tool, inspections are underway.

The next major milestone will be the installation of the top and bottom rings.

The spacer will take the place of the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) on Artemis III, with the ICPS reassigned for use on the Artemis IV mission.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA / Sam Lott

The Latest Update on the Third SLS Core Stage Booster...

NASA / Ben Smegelsky

Artemis III RS-25 Engine Processing (Photo Release)

All four RS-25 SLS (Space Launch System) rocket engines - built by L3 Harris Technologies - were delivered to NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the Artemis III mission, on Tuesday, July 21, 2026.

The engines arrived from NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi and will be installed in the SLS rocket's core stage for integration atop the Mobile Launcher.

During Artemis III the engines will propel the Orion spacecraft, carrying four astronauts, into low-Earth orbit - providing over two million pounds of thrust at liftoff.

Source: NASA.Gov