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Artemis II Moon Rocket Begins Roll to Pad as NASA Opens Final Test Campaign

The move starts pad checkouts that culminate in a wet dress rehearsal to determine whether an early‑February launch is feasible.

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NASA's Artemis II Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, secured to the mobile launcher, appear inside the Vehicle Assembly Building this week at Kennedy Space Center.
Artemis II lunar mission astronauts pause outside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building during their Countdown Demonstration Test at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on December 20, 2025. (L-R) Canadian Space Agency astronaut and NASA Artemis II Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, NASA astronaut and Artemis II Mission Specialist Christina Koch, NASA astronaut and Artemis II pilot Victor Glover and NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman. Designed to test launch-day procedures, the test is a dress rehearsal of what will happen on launch day, which is currently targeted for no earlier than February 1, 2026. (Photo by Gregg Newton / AFP via Getty Images)

Overview

  • The integrated SLS and Orion stack began moving from the Vehicle Assembly Building at 7 a.m. ET on Jan. 17 for a four‑mile trip to Launch Complex 39B at under 1 mile per hour, a journey expected to take up to 12 hours.
  • Once secured at the pad, teams will connect power, communications and propellant lines, power up all integrated systems for the first time at the pad, configure emergency egress, and perform radio frequency checks known as Pad P testing.
  • NASA plans a wet dress rehearsal in early February with full propellant loading and a practice countdown to T‑minus 29 seconds, and the results will inform the Flight Readiness Review and any formal launch date selection.
  • The earliest available launch opportunity is Feb. 6, with additional dates on Feb. 7, 8, 10 and 11; if those are missed, the next window opens March 6, with further options in April.
  • The crew—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen—will fly a roughly 10‑day free‑return around the Moon to validate Orion’s systems, with an adjusted return trajectory approved to mitigate heat‑shield risk identified after Artemis I.