NASA Rolls Out Space Launch System Rocket’s Core Stage from Michoud Factory

The first core stage that will help launch NASA’s Space Launch System rocket to the Moon for the agency’s first Artemis mission has been rolled onto the Pegasus barge at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. NASA Deputy Administrator Jim Morhard joined NASA, Boeing, Aerojet Rocketdyne and other employees to mark the historic milestone when NASA and Boeing teams transported the stage from the factory to the barge on Jan. 8. Pegasus, which was modified to ferry SLS rocket hardware, will transport the core stage more than 40 miles from Michoud to NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, for the comprehensive core stage Green Run test series. For more information about SLS, visit