Another Hot Fire for the SLS Program Was Recently Completed in Mississippi...

NASA / Danny Nowlin

NASA Conducts RS-25 Engine Test in Support of Future Artemis Missions (News Release)

NASA tested RS-25 engine No. 10001 on October 21 on the Fred Haise Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

Test teams fired the developmental engine for almost eight-and-a-half minutes (500 seconds), the same amount of time that RS-25 engines fire during launch of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket.

During the test, operators also fired the engine up to the 111% power level, matching the thrust needed for new production engines to launch the SLS rocket and the Orion spacecraft to orbit.

The main objectives of the test were to acceptance test RS-25 flight components for future Artemis missions and validate the new thermal protection system, which protects the RS-25 engine nozzle from the thermal environment surrounding SLS during launch.

While this developmental engine will not be used in flight, the hot fire test provides NASA and NASA’s prime contractor L3Harris Technologies with the capability to capture critical data to improve engine performance and reliability.

Four RS-25 engines produce up to 2 million pounds of combined thrust to help launch the SLS rocket for each Artemis mission.

All RS-25 engines are tested and proven flightworthy at NASA Stennis prior to use. Tests are conducted by a team of operators from NASA, L3Harris and Nova Space Solutions.

Source: NASA.Gov

Nation #77 Has Joined NASA's Moon Exploration Initiative...

NASA

NASA Welcomes Uzbekistan as Newest Artemis Accords Signatory (News Release)

The Republic of Uzbekistan became the 77th signatory of the Artemis Accords during a ceremony in Samarkand on Monday, committing to the practical principles that guide safe, transparent and responsible civil space exploration.

Uzbekistan has increasingly engaged with NASA and the broader international space community through its development of a national space program aimed at advancing Uzbekistan’s space industry and participation in global space forums. Uzbek students are also working to develop and launch the country’s first CubeSat, or small satellite technology demonstration, by 2028.

In early October, NASA officials met with representatives from Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Digital Technologies and Uzbekistan’s space agency, Uzcosmos, during the 2026 International Astronautical Congress in Antalya, Türkiye, where the two sides discussed civil space cooperation and opportunities for increased engagement. Uzbekistan is scheduled to host the annual global space event in 2028.

In 2020, NASA and the State Department joined with seven other founding nations to establish the Artemis Accords, responding to the growing interest in lunar activities by both governments and private companies. They introduced the first set of practical principles aimed at enhancing the safety and coordination between nations as they explore the Moon, Mars and beyond.

Signing the Artemis Accords means committing to explore peaceably and transparently, to render aid to those in need, to enable access to scientific data that all of humanity can learn from, to ensure that activities do not interfere with those of others, and to preserve historically significant sites and artifacts by developing best practices for space exploration for the benefit of all.

More countries are expected to sign the Artemis Accords in the months and years ahead, as NASA continues its work to establish a safe, peaceful and prosperous future in space.

Source: NASA.Gov

Freedom and Her Four Astronauts Have Safely Landed in the Pacific...

NASA / Keegan Barber

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 Splashdown (Photo Release)

The SpaceX Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft is seen as it lands with NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev aboard in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Los Angeles, California, on Thursday, October 8, 2026.

Meir, Hathaway, Adenot and Fedyaev are returning after seven months in space as part of Expedition 74 aboard the International Space Station.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA / Keegan Barber

A New Group of Spacefarers Has Arrived at the ISS...

NASA / Joel Kowsky

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 Launch (Photo Release - October 1)

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Dragon spacecraft is launched on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov onboard, Thursday, October 1, 2026, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission is the 13th crew rotation mission of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

Watkins, Delaney, Kutryk and Teteryatnikov launched at 11:10 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to begin a mission aboard the orbital outpost.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA / Joel Kowsky


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NASA


NASA


NASA

Both SRBs Are Fully Stacked for the Next Flight of the Space Launch System!

NASA / Cory S Huston

Assembly of the Artemis III SLS rocket (Photo Release - September 30)

Engineers with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems completed integrating the aerodynamic nose cones onto the left and right forward assemblies on the twin SLS (Space Launch System) solid rocket boosters, finishing their stacking operations for Artemis III inside the Vehicle Assembly Building’s High Bay 3 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida - on Wednesday, September 30, 2026.

Each forward assembly contains an aerodynamic top, a forward skirt housing avionics, and frustum housing motors that allow the boosters to separate from the SLS core stage after launch.

The twin solid boosters will help support the remaining rocket components and the Orion spacecraft during final assembly of the Artemis III rocket and provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust during liftoff from NASA Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39B.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA / Cory S Huston


NASA / Cory S Huston


NASA / Cory S Huston