The upper stage for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket that will power the agency’s Artemis III mission and send astronauts on to the Moon for a lunar landing arrived at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Poseidon Wharf in Florida, Aug. 9. It will undergo final checkouts by contractors Boeing and ULA (United Launch Alliance) at ULA’s facilities before it is delivered to NASA’ s nearby Kennedy Space Center.
The SLS rocket’s ICPS (interim cryogenic propulsion stage) with its single RL10 engine is responsible for giving NASA’s Orion spacecraft and astronauts inside the big push needed to journey to the Moon in a precise trajectory during Artemis III. The ICPS for the mission is the last of its kind as Artemis missions beginning with Artemis IV will use the SLS Block 1B configuration with its more powerful exploration upper stage for launch and flight.
Manufactured by ULA, the ICPS left Decatur, Alabama, Aug. 1, traveling down the Mississippi River and along the Gulf Coast toward ULA’s Florida facility via ULA’s RocketShip. The RL10 engine is produced by Aerojet Rocketdyne, the SLS engines lead contractor, in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Photo credit: United Launch Alliance