What: NASA's SLS rocket will roll from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B on Jan. 17, beginning an ~12-hour transfer streamed live by NASA.
Why It Matters: The move advances preparations for Artemis II, a crewed test flight around the moon carrying four astronauts. NASA is working through pad tests before confirming a final launch date; the first launch window opens Feb. 6.
NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) — the agency's large, orange-core rocket — is scheduled to move from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to Launch Pad 39B on Saturday, Jan. 17, as teams step up preparations for Artemis II, the first crewed mission to the vicinity of the moon in more than 50 years.
The rollout will begin at 7 a.m. Eastern and is expected to take about 12 hours as the rocket slowly crawls from the VAB to Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center. NASA plans to stream the transfer live on its website.
The last time an SLS vehicle was on a pad was October 2022, ahead of the uncrewed Artemis I flight that sent the Orion spacecraft on a test circuit around the moon. Since July 2024 the rocket core stage has been at Kennedy after arriving by barge, and stacking continued through last year, finishing when the Orion spacecraft was installed in late October.
Artemis II will be a crewed test flight of Orion around the moon — a critical step in NASA's plan to return humans to lunar orbit and eventually land astronauts on the Moon. Four astronauts are slated to fly on Artemis II: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen.
Before a launch can occur, engineers must complete pad tests and final checkouts to confirm the vehicle and ground systems are launch-ready. Agency officials have emphasized that moving the rocket to the pad is a key part of proving readiness; if issues arise during pad testing, teams could roll the vehicle back into the VAB for troubleshooting.
"It's been a long time since we've worked on this vehicle out at the pad. So we need to get it out there and put it through its paces and be very, very sure — very high confidence — in our ability to launch when we actually target the window, subject to weather," a NASA official said during a Jan. 13 interview at Kennedy Space Center.
NASA has not set a single firm launch date but is working from a series of opportunity windows. The initial target window opens Feb. 6, though officials stress that the agency will only commit to a date after pad testing and reviews confirm the mission can proceed safely.
Teams will monitor technical checks and weather before confirming any slip or go for a specific date. The rollout to Pad 39B is both a milestone and a test: it advances the schedule if everything goes well, or it reveals issues that can be addressed before committing to a launch.
Reporting: This article draws on coverage from Florida Today and official NASA announcements regarding Artemis II and the SLS rollout.
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