In the mobile launcher parking area for the Ares rockets is under construction.

In the mobile launcher parking area, at left, behind NASA Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building, at far right, the new mobile launcher, or ML, for the Ares rockets is under construction. In the background is Launch Complex 39A and the Atlantic Ocean beyond. The ML will be the base to launch the Orion crew exploration vehicle and the cargo vehicle. The base is being made lighter than space shuttle mobile launcher platforms so the crawler-transporter can pick up the added load of the 345-foot tower and taller rocket. When the structural portion of the new mobile launcher is complete, umbilicals, access arms, communications equipment and command/control equipment will be installed. Photo credit: NASA/Troy Cryder