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NASA’s SLS Moon rocket rolls out to the launch pad for the first time
Around noon EST on Thursday, March 17th, the high bay doors of NASA’s vast Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) opened, revealing the first fully assembled Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft.
About six hours later, the massive rocket departed the VAB for the first time ever and began a four-mile (6.4 km) journey to Pad 39B atop Crawler-Transporter 2. This is the first time a Moon rocket has rolled out of NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building since Saturn V headed to Pad 39A for Apollo 17 in 1972.
Crawler-Transporter 2 is a building-sized vehicle responsible for carrying NASA rockets – and their even more massive ‘mobile launch platforms’ – from the assembly building to the launch pad. The 6.6-million-pound (~3000 ton) vehicle has a top speed of two miles per hour (~3.2 km/h) while unloaded and one mile per hour (~1.6 km/h) while loaded and is designed to carry a payload of up to 18 million pounds (~8100 tons). The crawler ultimately took about 11 hours to transport SLS, Orion, and MLP-1 to Launch Complex 39B (LC-39B/Pad 39B).
Once the rocket and MLP-1 are fully installed on Pad 39B and the crawler has moved a safe distance away, SLS will be put through its first series of fully integrated tests, culminating in a wet dress rehearsal (WDR) as few as two weeks from now. Once the wet-dress is complete, SLS will be rolled back to the VAB for final launch preparations, including final Orion spacecraft processing, flight software updates. the identification and the repair of any issues found or wear generated during testing.
SLS is comprised of a core stage (CS-1), upper stage (the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage or ICPS), two solid rocket boosters (SRBs), an incomplete but spaceworthy Orion spacecraft, and a new mobile launch platform (MLP-1). This particular vehicle will be responsible for Artemis-1, an uncrewed test flight that will attempt to inject Orion into orbit around the Moon. While most of the spacecraft’s systems are in place, Artemis 1’s Orion will have no life support or environmental control hardware installed and also lacks a docking adapter.
NASA and its SLS/Orion contractors have subcontracted parts of the rocket and spacecraft’s development to more than 1,100 companies spread across the US, as well as every NASA center. SLS and Orion prime contractors include Boeing, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Northrup Grumman, and the United Launch Alliance. Once completed and qualified, all hardware was shipped to Kennedy Space Center, where the SLS rocket was then fully assembled inside the VAB. All Artemis 1 hardware arrived at KSC by the end of April 2021.
NASA says SLS’ launch debut is now expected to occur no earlier than (NET) May or June 2022. However, given the program’s history of delays, particularly surrounding major integrated testing, it’s likely that this stage of SLS testing will take longer than expected, so launch dates should only be treated as placeholders until the rocket has completed prelaunch testing and been inspected and recertified back inside the VAB.
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Armored Tesla Cybertruck “War Machine” debuts at Defense Expo 2025
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Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
Tesla plans to supply over 100 Megapack units to support a large stationary storage project in Japan, making it one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities.
Tesla’s Megapack grid-scale batteries have been selected to back an energy storage project in Japan, coming as the latest of the company’s continued deployment of the hardware.
As detailed in a report from Nikkei this week, Tesla plans to supply 142 Megapack units to support a 548 MWh storage project in Japan, set to become one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities. The project is being overseen by financial firm Orix, and it will be located at a facility Maibara in central Japan’s Shiga prefecture, and it aims to come online in early 2027.
The deal is just the latest of several Megapack deployments over the past few years, as the company continues to ramp production of the units. Tesla currently produces the Megapack at a facility in Lathrop, California, though the company also recently completed construction on its second so-called “Megafactory” in Shanghai China and is expected to begin production in the coming weeks.
READ MORE ON TESLA MEGAPACKS: Tesla Megapacks help power battery supplier Panasonic’s Kyoto test site
Tesla’s production of the Megapack has been ramping up at the Lathrop facility since initially opening in 2022, and both this site and the Shanghai Megafactory are aiming to eventually reach a volume production of 10,000 Megapack units per year. The company surpassed its 10,000th Megapack unit produced at Lathrop in November.
During Tesla’s Q4 earnings call last week, CEO Elon Musk also said that the company is looking to construct a third Megafactory, though he did not disclose where.
Last year, Tesla Energy also had record deployments of its Megapack and Powerwall home batteries with a total of 31.4 GWh of energy products deployed for a 114-percent increase from 2023.
Other recently deployed or announced Megapack projects include a massive 600 MW/1,600 MWh facility in Melbourne, a 75 MW/300 MWh energy storage site in Belgium, and a 228 MW/912 MWh storage project in Chile, along with many others still.
What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.
Tesla highlights the Megapack site replacing Hawaii’s last coal plant
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Elon Musk responds to Ontario canceling $100M Starlink deal amid tariff drama
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said, opens new tab on February 3 that he was “ripping up” his province’s CA$100 million agreement with Starlink in response to the U.S. imposing tariffs on Canadian goods.
Elon Musk company SpaceX is set to lose a $100 million deal with the Canadian province of Ontario following a response to the Trump administration’s decision to apply 25 percent tariffs to the country.
Starlink, a satellite-based internet service launched by the Musk entity SpaceX, will lose a $100 million deal it had with Ontario, Premier Doug Ford announced today.
Starting today and until U.S. tariffs are removed, Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts.
Every year, the Ontario government and its agencies spend $30 billion on procurement, alongside our $200 billion plan to build Ontario. U.S.-based businesses will…
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) February 3, 2025
Ford said on X today that Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts:
“We’ll be ripping up the province’s contract with Starlink. Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy. Canada didn’t start this fight with the U.S., but you better believe we’re ready to win it.”
It is a blow to the citizens of the province more than anything, as the Starlink internet constellation has provided people in rural areas across the globe stable and reliable access for several years.
Musk responded in simple terms, stating, “Oh well.”
Oh well https://t.co/1jpMu55T6s
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2025
It seems Musk is less than enthused about the fact that Starlink is being eliminated from the province, but it does not seem like all that big of a blow either.
As previously mentioned, this impacts citizens more than Starlink itself, which has established itself as a main player in reliable internet access. Starlink has signed several contracts with various airlines and maritime companies.
It is also expanding to new territories across the globe on an almost daily basis.
With Mexico already working to avoid the tariff situation with the United States, it will be interesting to see if Canada does the same.
The two have shared a pleasant relationship, but President Trump is putting his foot down in terms of what comes across the border, which could impact Americans in the short term.
Armored Tesla Cybertruck “War Machine” debuts at Defense Expo 2025
Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
