NASA's new moon rocket heads to the pad ahead of astronaut launch as early as February

(17 Jan 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY: MUST CREDIT NASA

NASA - MUST CREDIT
Cape Canaveral, Florida - 17 January 2026
++ON SCREEN GRAPHICS FROM SOURCE++
1. Various timelapse of NASA's SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft being rolled out from the hangar. moves towards launch pad
2. Wide of Jared Isaacman, NASA administrator speaking
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Jared Isaacman, NASA administrator: ++SPLITSCREEN WITH SHOTS OF ROCKET FROM SOURCE++
"Now, over time, launching missions like this, we are going to learn a lot, and the vehicle architecture will change. And as it changes, we should be able to undertake repeatable, affordable missions to and from the moon."
4. Isaacman speaking ++SPLITSCREEN WITH SHOT 5++
5. Pan of rocket ++SPLITSCREEN WITH SHOT 4++
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Jared Isaacman, NASA administrator: ++SPLITSCREEN WITH SHOTS OF ROCKET FROM SOURCE++
"An why are we doing this? We are doing this to fulfill a promise, a promise to the American people, that we will return to the moon. A promise to all of the pioneers, the engineers, the scientists, the astronauts, the researchers from the 1960s, of which laid the foundation that we are standing upon right now."
7. Reporter asking question
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Jared Isaacman, NASA administrator: ++CONTAINS SHOT CHANGES AND ++SPLITSCREEN WITH SHOTS OF ROCKET FROM SOURCE++
"We're continuing on with our Artemis II preparation campaign. I think we've held schedule pretty well getting to roll out today. So we'll get out there. We'll put it through its motions. We'll get through wet dress. We have, I think, zero intention of communicating an actual launch date until we get through a wet dress. But look, I mean, that's our first window, and if everything is tracking accordingly, I know the teams are prepared. I know this crew is prepared. We'll take it."
9. Wide of NASA astronauts talking to media ++SPLITSCREEN WITH SHOT 10++
10. Mid of rocket ++SPLITSCREEN WITH SHOT 9++
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Commander Reid Wiseman, NASA astronaut: ++SPLITSCREEN WITH SHOTS OF ROCKET FROM SOURCE++
"They are so fired up that we are headed back to the moon. They're so fired up that we are going on to Mars. They just want to see humans as far away from Earth as possible, discovering the unknown."
12. NASA's SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft being rolled out towards launch pad
STORYLINE:
NASA’s giant new moon rocket headed to the launch pad Saturday in preparation for astronauts’ first lunar fly-around in more than half a century.

The out-and-back trip could blast off as early as February.

The 322-foot (98-meter) rocket began its 1 mph (1.6 kph) creep from Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building at daybreak.

The four-mile (six-kilometer) trek could take until nightfall.

Thousands of space center workers and their families gathered in the predawn chill to witness the long-awaited event, delayed for years.

They huddled together ahead of the Space Launch System rocket’s exit from the building, built in the 1960s to accommodate the Saturn V rockets that sent 24 astronauts to the moon during the Apollo program.

The cheering crowd was led by NASA’s new administrator Jared Isaacman and all four astronauts assigned to the mission.

Weighing in at 11 million pounds (5 million kilograms), the Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule on top made the move aboard a massive transporter that was used during the Apollo and shuttle eras. It was upgraded for the SLS rocket’s extra heft.

The first and only other SLS launch — which sent an empty Orion capsule into orbit around the moon — took place back in November 2022.






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