In 2025, NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, marked a year of progress by supporting NASA’s Artemis campaign, celebrating historic milestones, and continuing its role as a trusted propulsion test partner at America’s largest rocket propulsion test site.
“For more than six decades, NASA Stennis has proudly represented the Gulf Coast region and America in advancing our nation’s space exploration goals,” said NASA Stennis Director John Bailey. “This year, we continued our progress forward as we near the launch of Artemis II, while honoring milestones that have brought our center to this point.”
Supporting Artemis
As NASA prepares for the launch of Artemis II in early 2026, with the first crewed mission to the Moon in over 50 years, NASA Stennis continues its frontline work.
Every RS-25 engine used to help launch NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket to the Moon is tested in south Mississippi.
NASA Stennis teams provided data to lead engines contractor L3Harris Technologies by successfully testing two new production RS-25 flight engines.
NASA tested RS-25 engine No. 20001 at the Fred Haise Test Stand in June, and RS-25 engine No. 20002 in November. Each engine fired for 500 seconds, reaching 111% of its rated power, while simulating launch conditions.
Supporting Commercial Propulsion
The commercial aerospace industry is growing, and NASA Stennis is a secure location providing support for it. Companies that have conducted work at NASA Stennis include Blue Origin, Boeing, Evolution Space; Launcher, a Vast company; Relativity Space and Rolls-Royce.
Three companies – Relativity Space, Rocket Lab, and Evolution Space – have established, or continue progress to establish, production and/or test operations at NASA Stennis.
Infrastructure upgrades and planning efforts across the test complex are laying the foundation for future propulsion test projects as well.
“As the commercial space industry continues to accelerate their development, NASA Stennis is adapting to meet their propulsion testing needs,” said Joe Schuyler, director of the NASA Stennis Engineering and Test Directorate. “We are proud that our proven experience makes us a trusted partner.”