NASA said in an Oct. 28 update that its Artemis III Space Launch System core stage is integrated alongside the twin solid rocket boosters inside the Vehicle Assembly Building's High Bay 3 at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Agency captions describe the arrangement as the short stack configuration. The core stage is the rocket's central liquid-fueled section. Solid rocket boosters are the pair of motors that flank that stage at liftoff.
Technicians lifted the 212-foot core stage from High Bay 2, NASA said. Image captions on the agency page show the stage lifted in the transfer aisle Thursday, Oct. 22, horizontal Friday, Oct. 23, and integrated with the booster segments Sunday, Oct. 25.
Under realigned contracts, neither lander provider has been assigned to a specific Artemis lunar landing mission, the Oct. 23 NASA update said.