NASA is making progress towards its mission to land astronauts on the moon.

Booster segments are being fitted this month to provide thrust for a crewed Artemis III mission in 2027.

Technicians integrated the left forward booster segment for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the left booster segments atop the mobile launcher at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday.

NASA’s Artemis II Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft taking off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. on April 1, 2026. Getty ImagesThe Artemis II crew (from left) Mission Specialist Christina Koch, Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, Pilot Victor Glover, and Commander Reid Wiseman taking a photo inside the Orion spacecraft on April 7, 2026. NASA via Getty ImagesA photo of the Earth captured from the Orion spacecraft window during the Artemis II mission on April 6, 2026. NASA via Getty Images

The SLS rocket’s twin boosters, each made up of five segments manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Utah, will provide more than 75 percent of the rocket’s total thrust at launch.

The Artemis III mission will launch astronauts into Earth orbit aboard the Orion spacecraft, on top of the SLS rocket, to test rendezvous and docking capabilities between Orion and commercial spacecraft. This will mark a vital step towards landing Artemis IV astronauts on the moon in 2028.

NASA’s successful Artemis II test flight earlier this year saw astronauts fly around the moon. On April 1, Artemis II launched on a nearly 10-day voyage, marking the first crewed flight of NASA’s Orion spacecraft. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, took part in the mission.