The United Launch Alliance (ULA) is playing a critical role in the upcoming Artemis III mission. The mission’s goal, according to NASA, is to place a crew on the moon for the first time in over 50 years.

However, before that can happen the newest piece of technology from ULA has to be transported.

The third United Launch Alliance Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, or ICPS-3 as it is known, was constructed in Decatur with the help of Boeing. It is now set to be shipped with other related hardware to ULA’s sister facility near the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.

“The ICPS is a key piece of hardware for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, and with this shipment, NASA is another step closer to returning astronauts to the lunar surface under Artemis,” said Chris Calfee, deputy manager for the SLS spacecraft and payload integration and evolution office. “Together, NASA, ULA, and Boeing have produced a powerful and dynamic in-space propulsion stage that has laid the foundation for human exploration of deep space for decades to come.”

The ICPS and its single RL10 engine made by Aerojet Rocketdyne will provide in-space propulsion during Artemis III, firing to send astronauts inside NASA’s Orion spacecraft on a precise trajectory to the Moon.

The Artemis III mission is scheduled for 2025. If a lunar landing is successful, NASA hopes to be the first to send humans to explore the lunar south pole.

Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.