Booster Delivery Marks NASA Artemis II Moon Mission Milestone

After returning its mobile launch pad to Kennedy Space Center in August, NASA is putting the pieces together for its next marquee mission.

Jack Daleo

Wednesday, September 27, 2023 at 02:49 PM ET

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Artemis II astronauts (left to right: Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Jeremy Hanson) stand in front of Northrop Grumman’s twin solid booster rocket segments. [Courtesy: Northrop Grumman]

Key Takeaways:

Northrop Grumman delivered key booster segments for NASA's Artemis II mission, maintaining initial preparations for the planned November 2024 crewed lunar flyby.
The Artemis II mission will utilize the powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, featuring newly delivered booster segments, to send four astronauts—including the first woman and person of color on a lunar mission—around the Moon.
While hardware deliveries progress, the overall launch timeline for Artemis II faces uncertainty, with some reports suggesting a potential two-to-three-year delay from its current target.
Artemis II is a precursor to Artemis III, which aims for a crewed lunar landing by 2025 (potentially delayed due to Starship development), as part of NASA's long-term plan for lunar settlements and the Gateway orbital outpost.

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In order for NASA to return astronauts to the moon for the first time since Apollo 17—more than half a century ago—the space agency has some work to do. But at a glance, things appear to be on schedule for Artemis, which is essentially NASA’s resurrection of the Apollo program.

Northrop Grumman on Tuesday delivered 10 booster motor segments, which the space agency will use for its Artemis II mission, to Kennedy Space Center in Florida from its manufacturing plant in Utah. The delivery should keep NASA on track to launch the first crewed Artemis mission, which is expected to send four astronauts on a jaunt around the moon in November 2024—so long as prelaunch activities continue to go as planned.