Artemis I Core Stage Offload to VAB - DRONE

The massive 212-foot long Space Launch System (SLS) core stage was offloaded from the Pegasus Barge on April 29, 2021, after arriving at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Teams with Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) and lead contractor Jacobs transferred the rocket stage to the center’s Vehicle Assembly Building to prepare it for integration with the completed stack of solid rocket boosters atop the mobile launcher ahead of the Artemis I launch. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test SLS and Orion as an integrated system prior to crewed flights to the Moon.