Space Focus

NASA on Aug. 28 was on schedule to begin fueling the SLS rocket for its inaugural flight test, targeted for liftoff at 8:33 a.m. EDT Aug. 29.

CAPE CANAVERAL -- The two-day countdown to launch of NASA’s first Space Launch System (SLS) rocket began as scheduled on Aug. 27, with no technical

After more than 30 countdown simulations, two core-stage Green Run static engine firings and four launchpad wet dress rehearsals, countdown clocks at Kennedy Space Center were scheduled to start ticking down on Aug. 27 for the long-awaited launch of the first Space Launch System rocket.

NASA and its large and diverse contractor team are eager for the success of the Artemis I test flight, seeing the uncrewed mission as an opportunity to learn from a lengthy and challenging development effort in order to continue advancing the technology and cutting costs.

Aviation Week & Space Technology's initial coverage of the December 1972 mission.

NASA on Aug. 25 was on track to begin the two-day launch countdown for its first Space Launch System rocket, leading to a launch attempt at 8:33 a.m. EDT on Aug. 29 from Kennedy Space Center.

Fifty years after Apollo, NASA is preparing for a permanent presence around the Moon.

The last person to walk on the Moon reflects on the geopolitical importance of a new era of human spaceflight.

NASA plans to use 10 small satellites to study the Sun, Moon and deep space.

Following an 11-hr. flight readiness review, NASA on Aug. 22 cleared the first Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for a launch on the kickoff mission of the Artemis program, a U.S.-led initiative to establish a permanent human presence in deep space.

The Artemis I flight test of NASA’s superheavy-lift rocket and Orion capsule sets the stage for crewed missions.

NASA’s Artemis I initial test flight of the Space Launch System and Orion crew capsule will be carrying a rich array of secondary science and technology payloads intended to demonstrate new space technologies and pave the way for a permanent human presence at the Moon and subsequent human exploration of Mars.

The first Space Launch System rocket, topped with an Orion deep-space capsule, was rolled out to Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39B on Aug. 17 in preparation for an Aug. 29 launch attempt.

NASA’s uncrewed Artemis I initial test flight of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion crew capsule will exercise the first of three flight trajectory strategies intended to kick off the return of human explorers to the lunar surface.

Technicians have installed and tested the flight termination system on the Space Launch System rocket, kicking off a 25-day clock for launch attempts for the Artemis I flight test.

NASA has resolved an issue with the U.S. Space Force’s Eastern Range that will expand launch opportunities for the first Space Launch System rocket, currently targeted to lift off at 8:33 a.m. EDT on Aug. 29 on the Artemis I flight test.

At the close of NASA’s upcoming Artemis I test flight, an uncrewed Orion capsule will re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere faster and hotter than any previous human spacecraft, validating the heat shield’s ability to protect astronauts returning from the Moon and eventually Mars.