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NASA Artemis Space Launch System

A 70cm launch tower and rocket that genuinely looks like liftoff day.

4.3/5

Set 10341 · 2024

Pieces3,601

Minifigsn/a

Year2024

Set number10341

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The verdict

If you love space and want a real shelf-dominating centerpiece, this one delivers on presence.

Just go in knowing that most of the box is launch tower, and the tower is a lot of the same steps over and over. Buy it if you want the full launch-pad scene and don't mind a patient, repetitive build. Skip it if you only care about the rocket itself.

Best for: Space nerds who want the whole launch pad, not just a rocket on a stick

The full review

What it is

Let me tell you what you're actually getting here, because it surprises people. This LEGO® set is not just a rocket. It's the whole scene: the Space Launch System with its Orion capsule and twin solid-fuel boosters, sitting inside a full mobile launch tower that stands about 70cm tall. That's over 27 inches of orange and grey space hardware, and when it's done it genuinely looks like a photo from launch day at Kennedy Space Center. The real SLS is the rocket carrying NASA back toward the Moon under the Artemis program, so this is a current, still-flying subject rather than a nostalgia piece, which makes it feel a bit special on the shelf.

The catch

Now the honest part. The build is heavily front-loaded with tower, and there's no getting around it. Of the 27 numbered bags, 21 of them are the launch tower and only the last six are the actual rocket. That means you spend a long stretch making tower level after tower level, and while the engineering underneath is clever, the repetition is real. Reviewers keep flagging the same thing, and Brickset put it plainly: construction is quite repetitive, though unavoidably so. The other gripe is stickers. There are a lot of them, a few are tricky to line up, and the stripes around the boosters being stickers instead of printed pieces is the one that stings for a set at this price. At around $259.99 for 3,601 pieces, the value is fair rather than generous, and some folks feel it's a little steep for what ends up on display.

Who it's for

So who's this for? If you're a space fan who wants the complete launch pad and not just a rocket propped on a stand, this is the one to grab. The moving umbilicals, the separating stages, the detachable capsule, all of it makes for a proper display centerpiece you'll keep pointing out to people. It carries a solid 4.3 out of 5 community rating on Brickset, so builders who bought it are happy overall. But if you find repetitive building tedious, or you mainly wanted the rocket and could take or leave the tower, you'll probably enjoy a different space set more. Go in expecting a patient, rewarding sit-down project and you'll love it. Expect a fast thrill ride and you won't.

The parts story

What the build is actually like, and the pieces worth knowing about.

Building this is very much a tale of two halves. The base and lower tower are the engaging bit, with some genuinely satisfying structural work to keep that tall frame stable and to make the umbilical arms and crew bridge swing on cue. Then you settle into the tower levels, and this is where you find your rhythm, because you'll repeat similar sections as you climb. It's meditative if you're in the mood and a slog if you're not. The payoff comes in the final six bags, when you build the rocket itself: the core stage, the two solid-fuel boosters, and the Orion capsule up top, all designed to detach in sequence like the real staging. Plan for something in the 10-15 hour range depending on your pace.

On parts, there are no brand-new molds here, but there's a nice haul of recolors for collectors. You get Bar 6L with Stop Ring in orange, the 1x8 plate with door rail in dark orange, a 4x4x2 hollow cone in white, and the 4x6 tile with studs on edges in dark tan. Two deep-cut returns are the real talking points: the 1x6 plate with train wagon end came back in light bluish grey after a 22-year gap, and the 1x2 plate with long tow ball reappeared in dark bluish grey after 12 years away. At roughly 7.2 cents per part the value is solid, and because the palette is so focused on orange, white and greys, it makes a genuinely useful parts pack if you build your own space models.

Fun facts

01The real Space Launch System stands about 322 feet (98m) tall fully stacked, and it's the rocket NASA is using to send astronauts back toward the Moon under the Artemis program.
02Designer Hans Burkhard Schlömer has said the model's scale was effectively locked in by the boosters, since the small cylinder parts needed to build them convincingly set the size for everything else.
03Of the 27 numbered bags, 21 build the mobile launch tower and only the last six build the actual rocket, which is why the finished scene feels so much like a real launch pad.
04It's noticeably smaller than the classic LEGO Saturn V's 100cm, so if you display them together the Apollo-era rocket still towers over its modern Moon-mission successor.