NASA Rolls Out Artemis III SLS Core Stage at Michoud Assembly Facility

NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans hosted the rollout of the 'top four-fifths' of the Artemis III Space Launch System (SLS) rocket core stage — comprising the liquid hydrogen tank, intertank, liquid oxygen tank, engine section, and core stage avionics — marking a key manufacturing milestone in the Artemis III launch campaign. The core stage will be transported to Stennis Space Center in Mississippi for engine testing before final shipment to Kennedy Space Center for SLS integration. The rollout advances the Artemis III mission, currently redesignated as a low-Earth orbit Starship HLS rendezvous and docking test targeting a 2027 launch, and supports the broader campaign toward Artemis IV's first crewed lunar landing in 2028.