Artemis III Hardware Assembly Accelerates — Heat Shield Installed, SRB Stacking Begins

Less than three months after Artemis II's crew returned, Artemis III hardware processing accelerated at Kennedy Space Center: the Orion heat shield (186 individually inspected Avcoat blocks, incorporating post-Artemis-I design refinements) was installed on July 6, 2026, and the first solid rocket booster aft segments were secured to the mobile launcher inside the Vehicle Assembly Building on July 11, 2026, beginning the stacking campaign. Crew members Randy Bresnik and Andre Douglas visited Exploration Ground Systems teams at the booster segment on July 10.