The United States is manufacturing enormous rocket stages for its Space Launch System at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans—a 60-year-old industrial complex that has become the backbone of America’s return to the Moon.
The Massive Factory
Michoud Assembly Facility spans 43 acres under one roof, making it one of the largest manufacturing plants in the world. To put that in perspective, the facility is large enough to contain more than 31 professional football fields.
NASA acquired the facility in 1961, and for over six decades it has served as “America’s rocket factory,” building the hardware that sent astronauts to the Moon during Apollo and now supporting the Artemis program to return humans to lunar orbit.
The site’s history stretches back even further—originally built in 1940 as a U.S. government production facility for cargo aircraft and tank engines during World War II. Before that, it was part of a French Royal land grant in the 1700s and later became a sugar cane plantation operated by Antoine Michoud.
Building the World’s Largest Rocket Stage
Today, Michoud workers led by prime contractor Boeing are building the Space Launch System core stage—the largest rocket stage NASA has ever constructed.
The SLS core stage towers at 212 feet tall with a diameter of 27.6 feet. When fully assembled, the complete SLS rocket stands 322 feet tall, taller than the Statue of Liberty, and becomes the most powerful rocket NASA has ever built.
The core stage stores 733,000 gallons of super-cooled liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to fuel four RS-25 engines that generate two million pounds of thrust, propelling NASA’s Orion spacecraft and astronauts toward the Moon.
Advanced Manufacturing Technology
The facility uses state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment, including the world’s largest friction-stir-welding tool. This specialized welding technology joins massive aluminum sections of the rocket’s fuel tanks with precision and strength impossible to achieve with traditional welding methods.
The manufacturing process involves multiple stages. Technicians first fabricate the core stage’s major structural elements, then move them to a priming cell near the Vertical Assembly Building for surface treatment. An automated robotic tool precisely coats the barrel sections, while workers manually apply primer to the forward and aft domes.
After priming, the tanks receive a foam-based thermal protection system that safeguards them from extreme temperatures during launch and flight.
Current Production Status
Michoud is currently manufacturing core stages for multiple Artemis missions simultaneously:
Artemis II: The core stage has been completed and delivered to Kennedy Space Center. This mission will be the first crewed flight of the SLS rocket.
Artemis III: The liquid hydrogen tank is currently in the priming phase. This mission aims to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon.
Artemis IV and V: Production work is already underway on stages for these future missions, demonstrating NASA’s commitment to sustained lunar exploration.
The facility is also developing the Exploration Upper Stage (EUS), a four-engine powerhouse that will replace the interim cryogenic propulsion stage on future missions.
The Cost of Deep Space Exploration
The Space Launch System represents one of the most ambitious and expensive space programs in history. The total program cost has reached $31.6 billion as of 2025 (excluding the Orion spacecraft), with each launch costing approximately $2.5 billion.
Annual operating costs run about $2.6 billion, reflecting the complexity of maintaining a super heavy-lift launch capability.
Despite these high costs, NASA emphasizes that SLS is the only rocket capable of sending the Orion spacecraft, four astronauts, and large cargo directly to the Moon on a single launch.
A Proven Track Record
On November 16, 2022, the SLS rocket successfully launched on its maiden flight during the Artemis I mission from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The uncrewed test flight validated the rocket’s systems and demonstrated that SLS had become the most powerful rocket NASA has ever launched.
Post-flight data reviews determined that SLS met or exceeded all performance expectations, clearing the way for crewed missions beginning with Artemis II.
The Future of Michoud
The facility’s unique capabilities—massive manufacturing space, specialized equipment, convenient access to interstate highways, railways, and port facilities—position it as an irreplaceable asset for NASA’s deep space ambitions.
With production ramping up for multiple Artemis missions and development work on advanced upper stages, Michoud Assembly Facility is quite literally building the hardware that will carry humanity back to the Moon and eventually on to Mars.
For a 60-year-old factory originally designed to build World War II aircraft, Michoud has evolved into the cutting edge of America’s space manufacturing capability—proving that sometimes the best place to build the future is in a facility with deep roots in the past.
