Lego reveals NASA Artemis rocket, Milky Way galaxy sets coming in May

The new Lego Art The Milky Way Galaxy and Lego Icons NASA Artemis Space Launch System sets are aimed at adult space and Lego fans.
(Image credit: Lego/collectSPACE.com)

Get ready space fans, Lego is about to launch two new sets that can take you from the moon to edge of the Milky Way.

The toy company on Thursday (April 25) revealed its upcoming Lego Icons NASA Artemis Space Launch System and Lego Art The Milky Way Galaxy sets. Both will go on sale beginning May 15.

From building a detailed scale model of NASA’s new moon rocket, complete with its launch platform and support tower, to piecing together our home galaxy, these two construction new kits are designed to engage adult Lego fans.

“Today the Lego Group unveils two new sets that allow space enthusiasts to go out of this world, by exploring the art of engineering excellence behind the human space missions to get a glimpse of what’s out there,” read the press release from the Denmark-based toy company.

SLS, the Space Lego Set

In November 2022, NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) lifted off with an uncrewed human-rated spacecraft on a 25-day mission around the moon. At the time of its ignition, the 322-foot-tall (98-meter) rocket became the most powerful vehicle to successfully take flight and advanced NASA’s Artemis program goal of returning astronauts to the lunar surface in this decade. Now, Lego has captured the complexity of the SLS in a new 3,601-piece, $259.99 (€259.99 or £219.99) set as part of its line of replica models.

The Lego Icons NASA Artemis Space Launch System includes the multi-stage rocket with its two solid-fuel boosters and a detailed mobile launch tower with retractable umbilicals and crew access arm. It also features an Orion spacecraft and European service module, which can be displayed separately or placed atop the SLS, as it was launched on the Artemis I mission.

When fully-assembled, the rocket and tower stand over 2 feet tall (70 centimeters), producing a 1:144 scale desktop model. The set does not include minifigures (nor is to minifigure scale) but does come with a printed plaque displaying details about the SLS and Orion.

The new Lego Icons NASA Artemis Space Launch System set is a detailed scale model of the moon-bound heavy-lift rocket. (Image credit: Lego)

The Lego Icons NASA Artemis Space Launch System (no. 10341) is the second model of the rocket to be released by Lego after a smaller, much less detailed version, the Lego Rocket Launch Center (no. 60351), was included as part of the Lego City Artemis-inspired line in 2022.

In a galaxy…

Though the moon can sometimes seem like a distant destination for a rocket, the second newly-announced Lego kit takes in a much wider view of deep space.

The Lego Art The Milky Way Galaxy set (no. 31212; $199.99 / €199.99 / £169.99) creates a colorful, dimensional map of our home galaxy, spanning more than 620,000,000,000,000,000 miles (1,000,000,000,000,000,000 kilometers or about 100,000 light years) in a 25.5-inch-wide (65-centimeter) mosaic.

The new Lego Art The Milky Way Galaxy set creates a colorful, 3D mosaic of our neighborhood in the universe. (Image credit: Lego)

“This awe-inspiring piece of art is composed of 3,091 pieces, which you build in layers to produce a 3D effect of incredible depth and texture,” reads the Lego description of the set. “Packed with features, this wall art includes some of the Milky Way’s most famous stars, clusters and other spectacles, including Trappist-1, the Pleiades, the Crab Nebula and the Pillars of Creation.”

In addition to the astronomical sights, the mosaic also includes a “You are here” sign placed where our solar system is located and what looks to be a spacecraft (though only four probes have just barely left our solar system, with a fifth on its way).

Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!

The Lego Art The Milky Way Galaxy set includes many details such as astronomical highlights and a “You are here.” sign. (Image credit: Lego)

Designed to be hung on a wall, the Milky Way Galaxy set is built up from five different panels, each with its own instructions, so it can be assembled by an individual or as a group activity. Builders can also access (via a QR code) a podcast specially recorded for this set featuring Lego Group host Jack Gardner Vaa; science communicators Camille “Galactic Gal” Bergin and University of Leicester chancellor Maggie Aderin-Pocock; and Lego Group designer Adam Vaughan.

Countdown is on

Both the Lego Art The Milky Way Galaxy and Lego Icons NASA Artemis Space Launch sets add to Lego’s still-growing product line for this year, with “Space”-branded kits spanning all of the company’s themes, from Lego City and Lego Technic to Lego Friends and Lego DreamZzz. Even the next Lego Minifigures Series, coming out on May 1, centers on space, with astronauts and spacemen included.

With the products coming in May, Lego Space-theme sets released in 2024 will number more than 20.

In addition to reproducing the rocket, the Lego Icons NASA Artemis Space Launch System also builds the mobile tower with retractable umbilicals and crew access arm. (Image credit: Lego)

The Space Launch System and Milky Way will be available to order for members of Lego Insiders, the company’s loyalty program, on May 15. The sets will then be released for sale to all both online and at Lego Stores beginning on May 18.

See more photos and video of both new Lego sets at collectSPACE.

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Robert Pearlman is a space historian, journalist and the founder and editor of collectSPACE.com, an online publication and community devoted to space history with a particular focus on how and where space exploration intersects with pop culture. Pearlman is also a contributing writer for Space.com and co-author of “Space Stations: The Art, Science, and Reality of Working in Space” published by Smithsonian Books in 2018. He previously developed online content for the National Space Society and Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, helped establish the space tourism company Space Adventures and currently serves on the History Committee of the American Astronautical Society, the advisory committee for The Mars Generation and leadership board of For All Moonkind. In 2009, he was inducted into the U.S. Space Camp Hall of Fame in Huntsville, Alabama. In 2021, he was honored by the American Astronautical Society with the Ordway Award for Sustained Excellence in Spaceflight History.

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