South Korea's CubeSat Is Now Attached to the Orion Stage Adapter for the Next SLS Flight...

NASA / Frank Michaux

Artemis II Secondary Payloads Blog and Photos (Photo Release)

Technicians install the Korea AeroSpace Administration's (KASA) K-Rad Cube within the Orion stage adapter inside the Multi-Payload Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida - on Tuesday, September 2, 2025.

The K-Rad Cube, about the size of a shoebox, is one of the CubeSats slated to fly on NASA’s Artemis II test flight in 2026.

Deploying in high-Earth orbit from a spacecraft adapter on NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket after Orion is safely flying on its own with its crew of four astronauts, K-Rad Cube will use a dosimeter made of material designed to mimic human tissue to measure space radiation and assess biological effects at various altitudes across the Van Allen radiation belts, a critical area of research for human presence at the Moon and Mars.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA / Frank Michaux


NASA / Frank Michaux


NASA / Frank Michaux

The Latest Update on the Fourth SLS Rocket...

NASA / Cory Huston

Artemis IV Engine Section in the VAB Transfer Aisle (Photo Release - August 27)

Teams at Kennedy Space Center in Florida transported the fourth core stage engine section from the spaceport’s Space Systems Processing Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building in August 2025.

The flight hardware will remain in the facility’s transfer aisle until teams lift the section into High Bay 2 for assembly and integration with the remaining core stage elements.

Artemis will pave the way for a long-term human presence on the lunar surface while ushering in the Golden Age of Innovation and Exploration.

Source: NASA.Gov

A South Korean CubeSat Will Also Be Ready to Fly on the Next SLS Rocket...

NASA / Frank Michaux

Artemis II Payload Integration (Photo Release - August 27)

Inside the Multi-Payload Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on Wednesday, August 27, 2025, technicians with the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) completed closeouts on the K-Rad Cube, one of several international CubeSats slated to fly on NASA’s Artemis II test flight in 2026.

Deploying in high-Earth orbit from a spacecraft adapter on NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket after Orion is safely flying on its own with its crew of four astronauts, K-Rad Cube will use a dosimeter made of material designed to mimic human tissue to measure space radiation and assess biological effects at various altitudes across the Van Allen radiation belts, a critical area of research for human presence at the Moon and Mars.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA / Frank Michaux


NASA / Frank Michaux


NASA / Frank Michaux

A Saudi Arabian CubeSat Will Soon Be Ready to Fly on the Next SLS Rocket...

NASA / Frank Michaux

Artemis II Payload Integration (Photo Release - August 26)

Inside the Multi-Payload Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on Tuesday, August 26, 2025, a technician inspects the Saudi Space Agency’s Space Weather CubeSat, one of several international CubeSats slated to fly on NASA’s Artemis II test flight in 2026.

Deploying in high-Earth orbit from a spacecraft adapter on NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket after Orion is safely flying on its own with its crew of four astronauts, the CubeSat will measure aspects of space weather – space radiation, solar X-rays, solar energetic particles, and magnetic fields – at a range of distances from Earth.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA / Frank Michaux

Orion Moves One Step Closer to its First Crewed Flight to the Moon...

NASA / Cory Huston

Artemis II Launch Abort Sytem Stacked in the LASF (Photo Release - August 27)

The launch abort tower on NASA’s Artemis II Orion spacecraft is pictured inside the Launch Abort System Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, August 27, 2025, after teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program installed the tower on Wednesday, August 20, 2025.

Positioned at the top of Orion, the 44-foot-tall launch abort system is designed to carry the crew to safety in the event of an emergency during launch or ascent, with its three solid rocket motors working together to propel Orion – and astronauts inside – away from the rocket for a safe landing in the ocean, or detach from the spacecraft when it is no longer needed.

The final step to complete integration will be the installation of the ogive fairings, which are four protective panels that will shield the crew module from the severe vibrations and sounds it will experience during launch.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA / Cory Huston


NASA / Cory Huston

The Latest Update on Orion's First Crewed Lunar Flight...

NASA

NASA Seeks Volunteers to Track Artemis II Mission (News Release)

NASA seeks volunteers to passively track the Artemis II Orion spacecraft as the crewed mission travels to the Moon and back to Earth.

The Artemis II test flight, a launch of the agency’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft, will send NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on an approximately 10-day mission around the Moon.

The mission, targeted for no later than April 2026, will rely on NASA’s Near Space Network and Deep Space Network for primary communications and tracking support throughout its launch, orbit and reentry. However, with a growing focus on commercialization, NASA wants to further understand industry’s tracking capabilities.

This collaboration opportunity builds upon a previous request released by NASA’s SCaN (Space Communication and Navigation) Program during the Artemis I mission, where ten volunteers successfully tracked the uncrewed Orion spacecraft in 2022 on its journey thousands of miles beyond the Moon and back.

During the Artemis I mission, participants – ranging from international space agencies, academic institutions, commercial companies, nonprofits and private citizens – attempted to receive Orion’s signal and use their respective ground antennas to track and measure changes in the radio waves transmitted by Orion.

“By offering this opportunity to the broader aerospace community, we can identify available tracking capabilities outside the government,” said Kevin Coggins, NASA’s deputy associate administrator for SCaN at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “This data will help inform our transition to a commercial-first approach, ultimately strengthening the infrastructure needed to support Artemis missions and our long-term Moon to Mars objectives.”

Read the opportunity announcement here
Responses are due by 5 p.m. EDT on Monday, October 27.

NASA’s SCaN Program serves as the management office for the agency’s space communications and navigation systems. More than 100 NASA and non-NASA missions rely on SCaN’s two networks, the Near Space Network and Deep Space Network, to support astronauts aboard the International Space Station and future Artemis missions, monitor Earth’s weather, support lunar exploration, and uncover the Solar System and beyond.

Artemis II will help confirm the systems and hardware needed for human deep space exploration. This mission is the first crewed flight under NASA’s Artemis campaign and is another step towards new U.S.-crewed missions on the Moon’s surface that will help the agency prepare to send American astronauts to Mars.

Source: NASA.Gov

SpaceX Update: Ship 37 Successfully Deploys Dummy Payloads on IFT-10...

SpaceX

Starship's Tenth Flight Test (News Release)

Starship’s tenth flight test lifted off on August 26, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. CT from Starbase, Texas, taking a significant step forward in developing the world’s first fully-reusable launch vehicle. Every major objective was met, providing critical data to inform designs of the next-generation Starship and Super Heavy.

The flight test began with Super Heavy successfully lifting off by igniting all 33 Raptor engines and ascending over the Gulf of Mexico. Successful ascent was followed by a hot-staging maneuver, with Starship’s upper stage igniting its six Raptor engines to separate from Super Heavy and continue the flight to space.

Following stage separation, the Super Heavy booster completed its boostback burn to put it on a course to a pre-planned splashdown zone. The booster descended and successfully initiated its landing burn, intentionally disabling one of its three center engines during the final phases of the burn and using a backup engine from the middle ring. Super Heavy entered into a final hover above the water before shutting down its engines and splashing down into the water.

Starship completed a full-duration ascent burn and achieved its planned velocity, successfully putting it on a suborbital trajectory. The first in-space objective was then completed, with eight Starlink simulators deployed in the first successful payload demonstration from Starship. The vehicle then completed the second ever in-space relight of a Raptor engine, demonstrating a key capability for future deorbit burns.

Moving into the critical reentry phase, Starship was able to gather data on the performance of its heatshield and structure as it was intentionally stressed to push the envelope on vehicle capabilities. Using its four flaps for control, the spacecraft arrived at its splashdown point in the Indian Ocean, successfully executed a landing flip, and completed the flight test with a landing burn and soft splashdown.

Over the course of a flight test campaign, success will continue to be measured by what we are able to learn, and Starship’s tenth flight test provided valuable data by stressing the limits of vehicle capabilities and providing maximum excitement along the way.

Source: SpaceX

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Images of the Day: The CRS-33 Freighter Arrives at the ISS...

NASA

A SpaceX Dragon Cargo Spacecraft Approaches the International Space Station (Photo Release)

A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft with its nose cone open and carrying over 5,000 pounds of science, supplies and hardware for NASA's SpaceX CRS-33 mission approaches the International Space Station for an automated docking to the Harmony module's forward port.

Both spacecraft were flying 261 miles above the Atlantic Ocean south of the Azores, a Portuguese archipelago, at the time of this photograph.

Source: NASA.Gov

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The Last Component for the Second SLS Rocket Is Now in Florida!

NASA / Kim Shiflett

NASA Delivers Artemis II Hardware to Kennedy (News Release)

A significant piece of hardware for NASA’s Artemis II mission arrived on August 19 to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to complete final stacking operations. A semitrailer transported NASA’s Orion stage adapter nearly 700 miles from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

NASA Marshall built and tested the Orion stage adapter which connects to the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket’s interim cryogenic propulsion stage to the Orion spacecraft. A diaphragm within the adapter protects Orion from flammable gases, such as hydrogen, generated during launch.

The Orion stage adapter is 5 feet tall (1.5 meters) with a diameter 18 feet wide (5.4 meters). The adapter can hold CubeSats, a miniature satellite about the size of a shoebox, to conduct science experiments and technology demonstrations. Artemis II will launch four CubeSats from NASA partners around the Earth while Orion is flying on its own towards the Moon.

The Orion stage adapter will remain at NASA Kennedy’s Multi-Payload Processing Facility to undergo CubeSat integration and then move to the Vehicle Assembly Building to be stacked on the SLS rocket.

The Artemis II test flight will take commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialist Christina Koch from NASA, and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen from CSA (Canadian Space Agency) around the Moon and return them safely back home. The mission is the first crewed flight under NASA’s Artemis program and is another step towards missions on the lunar surface and helping the agency prepare for future human missions to Mars.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA / Kim Shiflett

America's Next Group of Space Explorers, Plus Orion's First Crewed Lunar Flight, Will Be Previewed Next Month...

NASA / Kim Shiflett

NASA to Announce New Astronaut Class, Preview Artemis II Moon Mission (News Release)

NASA is opening media accreditation for multi-day events to introduce America’s newest astronaut class and provide briefings for the Artemis II crewed test flight around the Moon. The activities will take place in September at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

After evaluating more than 8,000 applications, NASA will debut its 2025 class of astronaut candidates during a ceremony at 12:30 p.m. EDT on Monday, September 22. Following the ceremony, the candidates will be available for media interviews.

The astronaut selection event will stream live on NASA+, Netflix, Amazon Prime, NASA’s YouTube channel and the agency’s X account.

The selected candidates will undergo nearly two years of training before they graduate as flight-eligible astronauts for agency missions to low-Earth orbit, the Moon, and ultimately, Mars.

Next, NASA will host a series of media briefings on Tuesday, September 23, and Wednesday, September 24, to preview the upcoming Artemis II mission, slated for no later than April 2026. The test flight, a launch of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft, will send NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on an approximately 10-day mission around the Moon.

Artemis II will help confirm the systems and hardware needed for human deep space exploration. This mission is the first crewed flight under NASA’s Artemis campaign and is another step towards new U.S.-crewed missions on the Moon’s surface that will help the agency prepare to send American astronauts to Mars.

The Artemis II events briefings will stream live on the agency’s YouTube channel and X account. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms.

Following the briefings, NASA will host an Artemis II media day at NASA Johnson on September 24, to showcase mission support facilities, trainers, and hardware for Artemis missions, as well as offer interview opportunities with leaders, flight directors, astronauts, scientists and engineers.

Media who wish to participate in person must contact the NASA Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 or jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov and indicate which events that they plan to attend. Confirmed media will receive additional details about participating in these events. A copy of NASA’s media accreditation policy is available on the agency’s website.

Media accreditation deadlines for the astronaut candidate selection and Artemis II events are as follows:

-- U.S. media interested in attending in person must RSVP no later than 5 p.m. on Wednesday, September 17.
-- International media without U.S. citizenship must RSVP no later than 5 p.m., on Wednesday, September 10.

Media requesting in-person or virtual interviews with the astronaut candidates, Artemis experts, or the Artemis II crew must submit requests to the NASA Johnson newsroom by Wednesday, September 17. In-person interview requests are subject to the credentialing deadlines noted above.

Source: NASA.Gov