Overview
- The SLS and Orion stack is scheduled to begin the four‑mile rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building at 7 a.m. ET on Saturday, with an eight to 12 hour trek to Launch Complex 39B.
- On‑pad work includes systems hookups, pad checkouts and a full wet dress rehearsal later this month that will load more than 700,000 gallons of cryogenic propellants and run the countdown to a planned stop near T‑29 seconds.
- NASA says a Flight Readiness Review after the fueling test will determine whether the mission can target the earliest launch opportunities in February.
- Published launch windows begin as soon as Feb. 6, with additional dates in early February, early March and late March to early April, reflecting two‑hour daily windows tied to lunar geometry and range availability.
- Artemis II will be a roughly 10‑day, crewed free‑return lunar flyby to validate Orion’s systems with astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and CSA’s Jeremy Hansen, as NASA also prepares an accelerated Crew‑12 ISS launch that could overlap operationally.