NASA Stacks Artemis 2 Second Stage While the Future of SLS Remains Uncertain 3a466w Technology News

NASA stacks Artemis 2's upper stage, advancing lunar crew mission despite uncertain SLS future. 6qz72

Written by Gadgets 360 Staff | Updated: 7 May 2025 22:48 IST

NASA Stacks Artemis 2 Second Stage While the Future of SLS Remains Uncertain

Photo Credit: NASA 6t6r3f

NASA completes the stacking of Artemis 2's second stage as SLS faces potential phase-out

Highlights

Artemis 2's second stage successfully stacked inside VAB at Kennedy Space
IS stage to propel Orion and crew around the moon during the 2026 Artem
Orion spacecraft and service module delivered and await final rocket inte

ment

NASA's Artemis 2 mission has reached a major milestone as the second stage that powers the Artemis 2 rocket, the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (IS), has been stacked. NASA astronauts and one Canadian—out of Earth orbit will travel a free-return path around the moon, therefore allowing NASA's return to deep space exploration.

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As per NASA show the second stage being lowered into place, while the Orion spacecraft and service module, delivered this week by Lockheed Martin, await integration. Exploration Ground Systems will process the Orion module before ing the rest of the launch vehicle.

Artemis 2 follows Artemis 1, which launched uncrewed in 2022 and revealed issues with Orion's heat shield that delayed future missions. The Artemis 2 crew will fly a lunar rather than enter lunar orbit. The success of the mission will be vital in opening the path for Artemis 3, currently set for 2027, whereupon humans would land on the moon using a SpaceX Starship lander.

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Even with continuous development, ambiguity surrounds the long-term fate of the program. A 2026 budget proposal released May 2 suggests ending the SLS and Orion programs after Artemis 3. If enacted, the mission currently under assembly may be among the final uses of the massive launch vehicle, designed to carry humans beyond low Earth orbit.

Artemis 2 is still relentlessly heading towards launch readiness. Though programming objectives are always changing, NASA's efforts to prepare the SLS and Orion spacecraft highlight a more general aim of maintaining a continuous lunar presence—a step towards eventual Mars exploration.

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