Story and image from Boeing News Now
Monday, January 19, 2026, Kennedy Space Center, Florida – Taking about 12 hours and averaging just under 1 mile per hour, the “stack” of Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion crew capsule completed its journey Saturday from Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B.
It’s a key step in the mission to send four astronauts around the moon, with the earliest launch window opening February 6.
SLS is the only rocket capable of carrying crew and cargo to the moon, the first time in more than 50 years, and is built to enable sustained human missions beyond low-Earth orbit.
The 212-foot (64.61 meters) Boeing-built core stage holds more than 730,000 gallons (2.7m liters) of cryogenic propellant and, working with four main engines and twin solid rocket boosters, will carry Orion through the roughly eight-minute ascent that places the stack on a moon-bound trajectory.