Next-gen Nasa moon rocket ready for move to Florida launch pad

CAPE CANAVERAL • The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (Nasa) next-generation moon rocket was due yesterday to make a highly anticipated, slowmotion journey from an assembly plant to its launch pad in Florida for a final round of tests in the coming weeks that will determine how soon the spacecraft can fly.

The roll-out of the towering Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with its Orion crew capsule perched on top marks a key milestone in US plans for renewed lunar exploration after years of setbacks, and the public’s first glimpse of a space vehicle more than a decade in development.

The process of moving the 32-storey-tall SLS-Orion spacecraft out of its vehicle assembly building at Nasa’s Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral was scheduled to begin at 5pm Eastern Daylight Time (5am today, Singapore time), weather permitting.

The megarocket – standing taller than the Statue of Liberty – will be slowly trundled to Launch Pad 39B on a giant crawler-transporter, a 6.5km journey expected to take about 11 hours. The spectacle will be carried live on Nasa Television and the space agency’s website.

Forecasts on Wednesday called for favourable conditions along Florida’s Atlantic coast.