Production of Artemis V’s Space Launch System (SLS) core stage is progressing with the first engine section barrel weld successfully completed at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. This achievement marks an important step in advancing aerospace manufacturing for deep space exploration.
Artemis V Engine Section Barrel Weld Completed Using Friction Stir Welding
Technicians at Michoud utilized Friction Stir Welding, a key aerospace joining technique, to ensure the strength and precision of the core stage structure. With installed tooling and continued innovation, NASA is streamlining the production process for the SLS Block 1B configuration, which will play a critical role in future Artemis missions. As work continues on the Artemis V core stage, each milestone brings NASA closer to launching the next phase of human exploration beyond Earth’s orbit.
Image credit: NASA / Michael DeMocker
“Technicians at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility move the engine section of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket for Artemis V on December 18, 2024, at NASA Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, LA. Throughout 2024, new tooling was erected in bldg. 115 for the upcoming iterations of the Space Launch System (SLS), Exploration Upper Stage (EUS), and the test articles required to develop and assemble each efficiently and effectively. This barrel is the sixty-fourth produced for the Space Launch System program since its inception and is the first barrel weld completed for the core stage of the Artemis V mission. This engine section will be used on the evolved Block 1B configuration of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. It is one of the first components that will make up a portion of the core stage that will power NASA’s Artemis V mission. According to a Boeing engineer, as of this barrel, the VWC has now completed 515 production welds, with friction-stir welding a cumulative distance of 111,568 inches. Image” – via NASA Image and Video Library