Mars 2020 Solid Rocket Boosters Lift and Mate

Inside the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the second of four solid rocket boosters (SRB) for the United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket is lifted up by crane on June 3, 2020. The SRB will be mated to the Atlas V booster. NASA’s Mars 2020 mission with the Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch on July 30, 2020, atop the Atlas V rocket from Pad 41.

The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover’s seven instruments will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.