The core stage of Artemis 2 departed the Assembly Facility in New Orleans on July 16th and is heading to Kennedy Space Center, where it will be assembled for a circumlunar mission planned for no earlier than September of 2025.

When it launches, Artemis 2 will have four crew members aboard an Orion capsule: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor J. Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen.

In a press release, Catherine Koerner, associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington said, “With Artemis, we’ve set our sights on doing something big and incredibly complex that will inspire a new generation, advance our scientific endeavors, and move U.S. competitiveness forward,” said. The SLS rocket is a key component of our efforts to develop a long-term presence at the Moon.”

NASA also says that the SLS rocket’s core stage is the largest the agency has ever produced. At 212 feet tall, it consists of five major elements, including two huge propellant tanks that collectively hold more than 733,000 gallons of super-chilled liquid propellant to feed four RS-25 engines. During launch and flight, the stage will operate for just over eight minutes, producing more than 2 million pounds of thrust to propel four astronauts inside NASA’s Orion spacecraft toward the Moon.

Now aboard NASA’s Pegasus barge, the massive core stage will travel by sea to Kennedy Space Center late this month.