NASA rolls Artemis II SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft to Launch Pad 39B

An image released Jan. 17, 2026 shows NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft rolling out of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida and being carried to Launch Pad 39B.

The massive Crawler-Transporter, upgraded for the Artemis program, moved the rocket and spacecraft at a maximum speed of 0.82 mph. The nearly 12-hour journey reached the pad at 6:42 p.m. EST.

The Artemis II test flight will carry NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on an approximately 10-day trip around the Moon and back.

The rollout places the SLS and Orion at Pad 39B in preparation for the Artemis II mission and is described as another step toward new U.S.-crewed missions to the Moon’s surface and a sustained lunar presence that will help prepare to send the first astronauts – Americans – to Mars.

Key Topics

Science, Artemis Ii, Kennedy Space Center, Nasa, Orion Spacecraft, Space Launch System