Artemis 2 Archives - Eastern Range

March 29, 2026

Artemis II, March 29, 2026

At L-3, or three days until a planned launch, Artemis II stands at Launch Complex 36-B at Kennedy Space Center in the morning sun.

How To Photograph The Launch Of Artemis II

The launch of Artemis II is coming soon at Kennedy Space Center, and it is going to be unlike anything most people have seen in their lifetimes. The last time a crewed moon rocket launched from this pad at Kennedy was Apollo 17 in December 1972, and the Space Launch System is even more powerful than the Saturn V that carried those astronauts to the Moon. The plumes will be blinding, the sound will rattle your chest and your car windows, and the moment will be etched in your memory forever. If you are a photographer, you have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to document history.

NASA’s Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft launches on the Artemis I flight test, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I mission is the first integrated flight test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and ground systems. SLS and Orion launched at 1:47am ET from Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center.
NASA/Bill Ingalls

Pegasus Barge Arrives In Port Canaveral Carrying Artemis 2 Core Stage

The Pegasus Barge carrying the Artemis-2 core stage arriving in Port Canaveral this afternoon.
Photo: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media Now

Business is picking up for the Artemis teams at Kennedy Space Center — the core stage for Artemis 2 has arrived in Port Canaveral, after it traveled from its manufacturing site in Mississippi.

The barge is expected to berth overnight in the Port and then travel to Kennedy Space Center tomorrow, where the 212-foot-tall stage will be offloaded. After that, processing will begin in earnest for the assembly of the second Artemis rocket, which this time will carry four astronauts on board for a circumlunar mission.

As the main stage of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for Artemis 2, it was built by The Boeing Company in NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility. Measuring some 65 m (212 ft) tall and 8.4 m (27.6 ft) in diameter, the core stage will contain approximately 987 t (2,177,000 lb) of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen cryogenic propellants when it stands ready for launch.

Artemis 1.
The core stage for Artemis 2 is nearly identical and is the orange center stage of the rocket.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

The core stage is powered by four Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 engines, which generate approximately 7.44 MN (1,670,000 lb_f) of thrust — about 25% of the Space Launch System’s thrust at liftoff. Its duty cycle is approximately 500 seconds, and it will propel the rocket stack alone for the last 375 seconds of flight after two solid rocket boosters complete firing and are discarded. The core stage’s target will lift Artemis 2 to an altitude of approximately 162 km (531,380 ft) before separating and reentering the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. It is not a reusable component.