NASA VAB, Artemis SLS Rocket Assembly, Kennedy Space Center

Inside NASA’s historic Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center, towering steel gantries and massive cranes facilitate the assembly of space vehicles. Constructed in the 1960s for the Apollo program's Saturn V rockets, the VAB is one of the world's largest single-story buildings, designed to accommodate vehicles over 500 feet tall. Today, the central high-bay area is utilized for integrating components of the Space Launch System (SLS) for the Artemis missions, a process requiring millimeter precision across multiple platforms and access decks. This immense structure continues to serve as a critical hub for America's human spaceflight endeavors, symbolizing advanced engineering and ongoing exploration. Related photographs from the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, where NASA’s Space Launch System core stages are assembled for Artemis missions.