KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. – In a significant leap forward for NASA’s Artemis program, the agency has announced plans to transport the Artemis II rocket and the Orion spacecraft from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center. The move is scheduled for no earlier than January 17, setting the stage for the program’s first crewed mission.

This crucial four-mile journey, facilitated by the crawler-transporter-2, is projected to take up to 12 hours. During this time, NASA teams will focus on final integration, testing, and launch rehearsals. The teams have been diligently working to address remaining tasks, but NASA cautions that the timeline might adjust if further technical issues or adverse weather conditions arise.

“We are moving closer to Artemis II, with rollout just around the corner,” remarked Lori Glaze, the acting associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate. She emphasized that as the team approaches this historic mission, ensuring the safety of the crew remains their utmost priority.

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In preparation for this milestone, NASA engineers have been tackling various technical challenges in recent weeks. This includes replacing a bent cable connected to the flight termination system and fixing a valve issue related to the pressurization of Orion’s hatch. Additionally, the teams have successfully addressed leaks in the ground support equipment used for loading gaseous oxygen into Orion.

Once the SLS and Orion reach the pad, NASA will begin connecting ground support equipment, powering up integrated systems and verifying that flight hardware, the mobile launcher and pad infrastructure operate together as designed. The Artemis II crew — NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen — will conduct a final walkdown at the pad.

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NASA plans a wet dress rehearsal at the end of January, during which teams will load more than 700,000 gallons of cryogenic propellant into the rocket and run through multiple countdown sequences. The test will include several holds and recycles in the final minutes of the countdown to validate launch procedures and updated protocols developed after challenges during Artemis I.

Following the rehearsal, NASA will convene a flight readiness review before selecting a launch date. The earliest launch window opens Feb. 6, with additional opportunities through mid‑April based on orbital mechanics, lighting constraints and mission requirements.

Artemis II will send astronauts on a roughly 10‑day flight around the moon, the first crewed mission beyond Earth orbit in more than 50 years and a key step toward establishing a sustained human presence on the lunar surface.