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Aug 27, 2024
At the dawn of the Apollo program, in 1962, President John F. Kennedy urged the nation to embrace the challenge of space exploration. Addressing skeptics, he famously declared that America chooses to do difficult things “not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”
This same pioneering spirit is embedded in Bechtel’s DNA. We live for a challenge. It’s what drove us to support NASA during the Apollo program, and again today as we mark one year of construction on Mobile Launcher 2 (ML2) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This critical piece of infrastructure will quite literally help launch a new era in space exploration, bringing humanity closer to sustained lunar exploration and, eventually, a journey to Mars.
I’m proud to be a part of this bright future. Above all, I’m proud that we are carrying out this mission with an uncompromising focus on safety and technical excellence. We know that when the Orion spacecraft lifts off in 2028 with the lives of four astronauts in its care, America and the world will be watching. Failure is not an option.
The Mobile Launcher (ML) is a complex infrastructure system designed to allow the Orion spacecraft to safely lift off from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). As such, we have a duty to implement exhaustive measures in design, planning, and execution, with safety and quality built into every activity. We do this by responsibly managing resources provided by the US government to meet NASA objectives. Once completed, ML2 will stand as an extraordinary engineering achievement. The 377-foot-tall launcher, with a two-story base and a tower, will be used to assemble and process the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft on NASA’s upcoming missions to the Moon beginning with Artemis IV.
ML2 is specifically designed to handle the increased weights and payloads of NASA’s next generation of SLS rockets. This capacity is crucial for Artemis IV, which will carry its crew and the International Habitation Module (I-HAB) to the Lunar Gateway Station. I-HAB will equip the station with living quarters, a workstation, and a staging area for future missions.
Bechtel has achieved several key milestones on ML2, setting us up to deliver success for NASA and its historic Artemis campaign. Yet even more important than what we do is how we do it. The safety of our people is paramount. That’s why we opted to reduce risk to our craft professionals by initially assembling ML2’s base structure on temporary pedestals close to the ground and raising it to its operational height once completed.
To achieve this, we executed a complex “Jack and Set” operation in May. The team used a specialized heavy-duty jacking system to lift the 2.6-million-pound skeleton for the launcher’s base more than 20 feet, allowing NASA’s giant “crawler” transporter to drive beneath the structure. The crawler then moved the assembly the length of a football field, where it was then set on its permanent mounts. This was no small feat—and it was only possible because of our close collaboration with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems team.
With Jack and Set complete, progress on the base continues to accelerate. The team is now building out personnel access levels inside the base and outfitting it with critical utilities. Soon, key steel supports for the tower, known as “the chair,” will be installed to prepare for module placement.
When I think about how far we’ve come, I’m reminded of how Darrell Foster, NASA’s Ground Systems Integration Manager, hailed the Jack and Set operation as a “huge accomplishment” for both NASA and Bechtel. I couldn’t agree more. Each incredible achievement on ML2—no matter how big or small—is the result of our company’s commitment to working together with our customers as “One Team.”
When we take on a challenge, we begin by asking ourselves: “How can we do this better?” Since Bechtel is working on every stage of ML2’s project lifecycle—from design and construction to testing and commissioning—we were able to maximize our efficiency during construction.
We did this by taking a modular approach to construction; in other words, we built different parts or “mods” of the tower concurrently to optimize safety, cost and schedule performance. Our recent milestones are a testament to the effectiveness of this strategy. The team assembled steel for the first module, Mod 4, in late December 2023, and has since built three additional tower modules.
Currently, Mod 4 is being outfitted with key piping and electrical equipment, which will be secured when the team transports it across the Kennedy Space Center to Parksite and places it atop “the chair.” At that point, the tower will begin to visibly alter the skyline, growing to greater heights with each installation.
In the coming weeks, months, and years, our ML2 team will continue to collaborate, improve, and surpass project milestones—all with the goal of advancing the Artemis campaign and beyond.
For 126 years, Bechtel has pushed the boundaries of the possible, chasing new frontiers in the process. Today, space is that new frontier, and tomorrow will certainly bring new challenges. Challenges we hope to undertake with the same focus on safety and quality—from enabling mining in space to sustaining life on the Moon to landing on Mars. Indeed, Bechtel, NASA, and this nation continue to do things not because they are easy, but because they are hard. And I’m proud of all we’ve accomplished so far.
