CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — NASA is about to roll its massive new Artemis 2 moon rocket out to the launch pad.

The crawler carrying the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft was built 60 years ago to haul NASA’s Saturn V rockets, then kept around for the Space Shuttle Program. Now, the vehicle is back to its original purpose of positioning Moon-bound rockets on their launch pads.

NASA has provided a long-awaited update on plans for the Artemis 2 launch, including a Jan. 17 rollout of the launch vehicle to the pad.

NASA announces Artemis II launch date for Feb. 6, sending four astronauts around the Moon for the first time in over 50 years in historic 10-day mission.

SpaceX targeting Thursday for Cape Canaveral's second rocket launch of 2026 Bolstered by more than 300 Falcon 9 rocket launches — primarily from Florida's Space Coast — SpaceX's 9,000-plus Starlink high-speed internet satellites now serve more than 9 million customers in more than 155 countries and markets,

While Artemis II won't touch down on the lunar terrain - NASA targets putting astronauts on the surface by 2030, though China competes to arrive first - it will journey 6,400 miles beyond the Moon's far side: the most distant humans have ever ventured into the cosmos.