NASA Targets Summer 2027 Artemis III Launch and Year-End SLS Tanking Test

NASA Targets Summer 2027 Artemis III Launch and Year-End SLS Tanking Test

NASA is targeting summer 2027 for Artemis III, a crewed Space Launch System (SLS) mission that will test docking operations with two commercial lunar landers in Earth orbit. The agency also plans to conduct a major rocket propellant-loading test before the end of 2026.

Crawler-Transporter 2 weighs about 6.6 million pounds, roughly 1,000 pickup trucks, and the machine NASA built in 1965 to carry the Saturn V is expected to move the Artemis III SLS stack to Launch Pad 39B for a tanking test in the coming months.

NASA's crawler-transporters weigh about 6.6 million pounds, and NASA said on 13 October 2026 the Artemis III SLS will roll to Pad 39B for a tanking test.