NASA readies the Artemis III core stage for a fuelling test
The stage will be stacked with its boosters at Pad 39B ahead of a 2027 crewed docking rehearsal in Earth orbit.
By Dana Whitfield · 3wCAPE CANAVERAL, USA, Oct. 15, 2026 - NASA is preparing to mate the Artemis III core stage to its twin solid rocket boosters, forming a short stack for a tanking test at Launch Pad 39B.
Artemis III is targeted for no earlier than June 2027 and will stay in low Earth orbit to demonstrate docking with commercial lunar landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin. It will carry four astronauts. NASA redesigned the mission earlier this year as a crewed flight in Earth orbit to rehearse docking the Orion spacecraft with those landers.
NASA says the Artemis program aims to establish an enduring human presence on the Moon and lay the groundwork for the first crewed mission to Mars.
Impact Insight. A tanking test fills a rocket's tanks with super-cold propellants on the pad to check for leaks and rehearse the countdown before a launch. The link to planetary defense is indirect: heavy-lift rockets and deep-space crew systems are the kind of capability that could one day support missions to study or deflect a hazardous asteroid.
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