REENA ROY, ABC NEWS, NEW YORK. ROCKET ENGINES, COMPONENTS BUILT IN PALM BEACH COUNTY PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN GETTING ARTEMIS TWO INTO POSITION AFTER LIFTOFF. SHOWS US HOW LOCAL WORK HELPED POWER THIS HISTORIC MISSION. THIS IS QUITE A STORY, CALEB. THAT IS CORRECT. AND FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO WATCH THAT LAUNCH OF ARTEMIS TWO LAST WEEK, WE ALL SAW THE GIANT ROCKETS. THE FLAMES, OF COURSE. OF COURSE, THE FAMOUS LIFTOFF AS WELL. BUT RIGHT HERE IN SOUTH FLORIDA, THERE’S A TEAM IN PALM BEACH COUNTY POWERING ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PARTS OF THE MISSION COMPANY, L3. HARRIS SAYS IT’S RL10 ENGINE BUILT IN PALM BEACH COUNTY, HELPED GUIDE ARTEMIS TWO AFTER LAUNCH, HELPING PLACE THE SPACECRAFT IN A HIGH EARTH ORBIT BEFORE IT HEADED TO THE MOON. ONCE THE SEPARATION HAPPENS, WE LIGHT ON THE SECOND STAGE, THE RL TEN, AND WE TAKE ORION INTO THE HIGH EARTH ORBIT, AND THAT’S WHERE THEY DID THEIR PROXIMITY MANEUVERS, AND THEY TEST OUT THE VEHICLE. PROGRAM MANAGER NICOLE CUMMINGS SAYS THAT STEP WAS CRITICAL BECAUSE BEFORE NASA CAN PUT ASTRONAUTS BACK ON THE MOON, IT HAS TO MAKE SURE THE SPACECRAFT CAN HANDLE THE COMPLEX MOVEMENTS NEEDED IN SPACE AND GET INTO THE PRECISE POSITION IT NEEDS TO BE. SO GETTING THEM INTO THAT PRECISE AREA WITH THE RL TEN, THEY’RE ABLE TO DO ALL OF THOSE MANEUVERS AND REALLY MAKE SURE THAT WE’RE READY FOR THAT MOON LANDING. AS FOR THE TEAM IN PALM BEACH COUNTY, WATCHING IT ALL WORK THIS PAST WEEK WAS A HUGE MOMENT, CUMMINGS SAYS. THERE WAS TENSION, BUT ALSO A CALM CONFIDENCE AS THE MISSION UNFOLDED EXACTLY THE WAY ENGINEERS HAD HOPED. IT WAS JUST PERFECTLY EXECUTED. AND JUST TO HAVE THAT, THAT BREATHING MOMENT OF SAYING IT PERFORMED, IT’S JUST AN AMAZING FEELING. IT FEELS GREAT. WE KNOW WE OPERATED, WE KNOW WE PERFORMED, AND THE TEAM IS JUST ECSTATIC. AND KNOWING THAT WE’RE PART OF THIS HISTORY, IT WAS JUST GREAT. NOW THE COMPANY SAYS WORK DOESN’T JUST STOP WITH THIS MISSION. THEY’RE ALREADY LOOKING AHEAD TO FUTURE ARTEM
South Florida team helps power Artemis II mission to the moon
Updated: 6:47 PM EDT Apr 6, 2026
As Artemis II pushes deeper into its mission around the moon, a South Florida team is helping make it happen with engines and components built in Palm Beach County. Company L3Harris says its RL10 engine, built in Palm Beach County, helped guide Artemis II after launch, helping place the spacecraft into high Earth orbit before it headed to the moon.Your neighborhood: Local coverage from WPBF 25 News”Once this operation happens, we light on the second stage, the RL10, and we take Orion into the high Earth orbit. And that’s where they do their proximity maneuvers and they test out the vehicle,” said Nicole Cummings, RL10 NASA program manager.Cummings said that step was critical because before NASA can put astronauts back on the moon, it has to make sure the spacecraft can handle the complex movements needed in space and get into the precise position it needs to be.”So getting them into that precise area with the RL10, they’re able to do all of those maneuvers and really make sure that we’re ready for that moon landing,” Cummings said.For the team in Palm Beach County, watching it all work this past week was a huge moment. Cummings said there was tension but also a calm confidence, as the mission unfolded exactly the way engineers had hoped.”It was just perfectly executed. And just to have that, that breathing moment of saying it performed, it’s just an amazing feeling. It feels great. We know we operated, we know we performed, and the team is just ecstatic, and knowing that we’re part of this history, it was just great,” Cummings said.Get the latest news updates with the WPBF 25 News app. You can download it here.The company said its work doesn’t stop with this mission. Cummings said the team is already looking ahead to future Artemis flights, including Artemis III.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. —
As Artemis II pushes deeper into its mission around the moon, a South Florida team is helping make it happen with engines and components built in Palm Beach County.
Company L3Harris says its RL10 engine, built in Palm Beach County, helped guide Artemis II after launch, helping place the spacecraft into high Earth orbit before it headed to the moon.
Your neighborhood: Local coverage from WPBF 25 News
“Once this operation happens, we light on the second stage, the RL10, and we take Orion into the high Earth orbit. And that’s where they do their proximity maneuvers and they test out the vehicle,” said Nicole Cummings, RL10 NASA program manager.
Cummings said that step was critical because before NASA can put astronauts back on the moon, it has to make sure the spacecraft can handle the complex movements needed in space and get into the precise position it needs to be.
“So getting them into that precise area with the RL10, they’re able to do all of those maneuvers and really make sure that we’re ready for that moon landing,” Cummings said.
For the team in Palm Beach County, watching it all work this past week was a huge moment. Cummings said there was tension but also a calm confidence, as the mission unfolded exactly the way engineers had hoped.
“It was just perfectly executed. And just to have that, that breathing moment of saying it performed, it’s just an amazing feeling. It feels great. We know we operated, we know we performed, and the team is just ecstatic, and knowing that we’re part of this history, it was just great,” Cummings said.
Get the latest news updates with the WPBF 25 News app. You can download it here.
The company said its work doesn’t stop with this mission. Cummings said the team is already looking ahead to future Artemis flights, including Artemis III.