![The installation of RS-25 engine E2059 at the base of the core stage for NASA's second Space Launch System rocket. Credit: NASA](https://www.spaceflightinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/MAF_20230911_CS2_Eng2059_FirstEngineInstall_03large.jpg)
The installation of RS-25 engine E2059 at the bottom of the core stage for NASA’s second Space Launch System rocket. Credit: NASA
Technicians have installed the primary engine on the core stage of the second Space Launch System rocket, which is tasked with sending the primary people to the Moon in greater than a half century.
The primary of 4 RS-25 engines was installed Sept. 11 at the bottom of the 212-foot (65-meter) core stage of the SLS rocket at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in Recent Orleans. Scheduled for no sooner than late 2024, the core stage, together with two massive solid rocket boosters, will provide the thrust required to get the Artemis 2 mission and its four-person crew into space.
![RS-25 engine E2059. Credit: NASA](https://www.spaceflightinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/MAF_20230908_CS2_Eng2059_Eng1Move44to47-17large-655x436.jpg)
RS-25 engine E2059. Credit: NASA
Flying the Artemis 2 mission are NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Their 10-day mission will involve testing the Orion spacecraft in high Earth orbit before performing a free-return trajectory across the Moon.
In accordance with NASA, the primary RS-25 engine, serial No. E2059, was installed in position two at the bottom of the core stage. It, together with E2047, were used for space shuttle missions, in line with NASA. The opposite two, E2062 and E2063, are recent engines with previously flown hardware.
Boeing is the prime contractor for the SLS rocket. The 4 RS-25 engines are supplied by Aerojet Rocketdyne, which was recently acquired by L3 Harris Technologies. During launch the core stage engines fire for 8.5 minutes, consuming liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen at a rate of 1,500 gallons (5,678 liters) per second, in line with NASA.
NASA said the five major structures of the SLS core stage were joined earlier this yr. Once the three remaining engines are installed, together with the propulsion and electrical systems throughout the structure, the core will likely be shipped to Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The means of stacking your complete 322-foot (98-meter) tall SLS rocket with its twin five-segment solid rocket boosters, core stage, interim cryogenic propellent stage and Orion spacecraft is anticipated to start sometime next yr.