NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) program and prime test and operations contractor (TOSC) Jacobs are working at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) to position Artemis 1 Orion and Space Launch System (SLS) hardware to be ready for final assembly ahead of the arrival of the SLS Core Stage in the late-April time-frame. With the final major Core Stage test completed, the SLS Boosters are stacked in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and fueling of the Orion spacecraft was expected to begin.
EGS and Jacobs are also working to align the schedules of cubesat payloads and the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) so they can be ready for vehicle integration when their turn arrives for stacking. EGS is looking at ten months of work to get ready for Artemis 1 once the Core Stage arrives, which would put the current launch forecast towards the end of the first quarter of 2022.