Previously Flown Components Of Artemis II

One of the goals of SLS was to reuse remaining hardware from NASA’s Shuttle program where possible. This was intended to be a cost-saving measure, but given the high price of a single SLS stack costs more than two billion dollars: The SLS rocket for Artemis II (and each Artemis mission) costs approximately $4.1 billion per launch per the NASA OIG, with about half of that being tied up in the rocket and capsule. That’s a lot of money.

Still, there a lot of previously flown pieces of hardware on America’s newest moon rocket.

RS-25 Core Stage Engines

Engine	Flights	Space Shuttle Missions	Est. Value
RS-25 E2047	15	STS-91 (1998), STS-96, STS-98 (Destiny Lab), STS-99, STS-106, STS-104, STS-109, STS-112, STS-115, STS-118, STS-123, STS-126, STS-128, STS-132, STS-135 (final shuttle)	~$70MOriginal build cost
RS-25 E2059	5	STS-117, STS-122, STS-125 (Hubble servicing), STS-130, STS-134 (final Endeavour)	~$70MOriginal build cost
RS-25 E2061 Replaced E2063 in April 2025	2	STS-130 (Tranquility node), STS-134 (final Endeavour, AMS-02)	~$70MOriginal build cost
RS-25 E2062 First Spaceflight	0*	Never flown as complete engine; contains heritage components including parts from STS-1 (first shuttle)	~$70MOriginal build cost

Note: New RS-25 production costs ~$100–146M per engine. Shuttle-era engines required ~$72M each in adaptation costs for SLS.

Orion Main Engine (OMS-E)

Engine	Flights	Space Shuttle Missions	Est. Value
OMS Engine AJ10-190 from Atlantis	6	STS-101 (first glass cockpit), STS-98 (Destiny Lab), STS-104 (Quest Airlock), STS-108, STS-109, STS-110 All missions 2000–2002; stored 20+ years before Artemis	~$2–5MRefurbished at White Sands

Solid Rocket Booster Steel Casings

Left Booster: 47 shuttle flights + 9 static tests
Right Booster: 64 shuttle flights + 9 static tests + 1 new component
Combined heritage: 84 different Space Shuttle missions represented

Left Booster (Artemis II-A)

Component	Part #	Shuttle/Test History
Forward Dome	55	STS-111, 120, STS-131, QM-2
Cylinder	89	TEM-9, STS-73, 94, 100, 115, STS-127, QM-1
Capture Feature Cyl	43	STS-111, 120, DM-2, QM-1
Cylinder	104	TEM-6, STS-51, 69, 94, 101, 124, FSM-1, FVM-1
Capture Feature Cyl	64	STS-110, 120, FSM-17, QM-1
Cylinder	37	STS-8, 48, TEM-11
Capture Feature Cyl	92	STS-52, 68, 85, 106, STS-131, TEM-13
Cylinder	31	STS-41C, 75, 88, 110, 122, STS-132, TEM-7
Capture Feature Cyl	88	STS-37, 53, 70, 86, 92, STS-114, 126, DM-2
Stiffener	77NEW	New component
Stiffener	104	STS-66, 82, 103, STS-134, FVM-2
Attach	60	STS-126, QM-1
Aft Dome	42	STS-26 (Return to Flight), 32, 48, 57, 71, 83, 101, STS-130, TEM-13
Frustum	16	STS-25, 35, 50, 51, 66, 75, 85, 101, 110, 119
Forward Skirt	16	STS-23, 30, 31, 38, 42, 54, 62, 69, 81, 89, 99, 105, 120, 129 (14 flights)
Aft Skirt	21	STS-25, 39, 52, 59, 72, 83, 95, 108, STS-132

Right Booster (Artemis II-A)

Component	Part #	Shuttle/Test History
Forward Dome	56	STS-113
Cylinder	86	STS-5 (1982, earliest), STS-7, TEM-10, FSM-17
Capture Feature Cyl	46	FSM-11, STS-113, 119
Cylinder	82	STS-26 (Return to Flight), 27, 38, 52, 68, 85, STS-98 (Destiny Lab), QM-1
Capture Feature Cyl	89	STS-110, 120, FSM-17, QM-1
Cylinder	33	STS-8, 48, TEM-11
Capture Feature Cyl	72	STS-52, 68, 85, 106, STS-131, TEM-13
Cylinder	61	STS-41C, 75, 88, 110, 122, STS-132, TEM-7
Capture Feature Cyl	56	STS-37, 53, 70, 86, 92, STS-114, 126, DM-2
Stiffener	78NEW	New component
Stiffener	36	STS-66, 82, 103, STS-134 (final Endeavour), FVM-2
Attach	53	STS-126, QM-1
Aft Dome	45	STS-26 (Return to Flight), 32, 48, 57, 71, 83, 101, STS-130, TEM-13
Frustum	22	STS-27, 34, 48, 52, 61, 67, 80, 95, 102, STS-107 (Columbia), 116, 128
Forward Skirt	19	STS-27, 30, 35, STS-49 (first Endeavour), 51, 67, 76, 93, 94, 100, 107, 116, 124, 131 (14 flights)
Aft Skirt	29	STS-27, 32, 44, 51, 71, 82, 93, 108, STS-127

Est. Value: ~$50–80M per booster set for heritage casings vs. ~$290M each for new production. Propellant newly cast in 2019.

Notable heritage: Cylinder 86 flew on STS-5 (1982) – the earliest flown component. Both forward skirts flew 14 missions each, including STS-49 (first Endeavour) and STS-130 (last shuttle night launch). Components from both the first and last flights of Endeavour support Artemis II.

Sources

NASA: Artemis II SLS Reference Guide (October 2025)
NASA: First RS-25 Engine Installed to Artemis II
L3Harris: RS-25 Engines with Different Histories
SpaceNews: Aerojet Rocketdyne defends SLS engine contract costs
ESA Orion Blog: The Artemis II Engine with a Legacy

Data compiled January 2026 | Talk of Titusville

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