NASA is launching its new mega-rocket to shoot a spaceship around the moon this month. Here’s what to expect. NASA''s Space Launch System rocket is scheduled to launch an uncrewed mission to the moon August 29. Artemis I is a 42-day flight test that will lay the foundation for future Artemis missions. The mission is a huge step toward returning astronauts to the moon for the first time since 1972. NASA is finally set to launch its new mega-rocket , shooting an Orion spaceship designed for astronauts around the moon, at the end of this month. In a bid to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972, NASA has spent 17 years and an estimated $50 billion developing the Space Launch System (SLS) and its Orion spaceship. The bright new SLS rocket stands taller than the Statue of Liberty, at 23 stories, with the spaceship secured up top. Four car-sized engines and two rocket boosters should give it enough thrust to push Orion all the way around the moon — farther than any spacecraft built for humans has ever flown. That''s where NASA''s first SLS mission, called Artemis I, is taking it.