The 15 engines will be moved one at a time by truck. That's a 700-mile journey and one that NASA made many times to move engines during the space shuttle program. Moving them out of Kennedy also frees up space in Florida that can be used by the commercial space companies the center is trying to attract.
"This enables the sharing of personnel, resources and practices across all engine projects, allows flexibility and responsiveness to the SLS program, and it is more affordable," said Johnny Heflin, RS-25D core stage engine lead in the SLS Liquid Engines Office at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL.. "It also frees up the space, allowing Kennedy to move forward relative to commercial customers."
Marshall is leading the development of the SLS program, which features new heavy-lift boosters and the Orion capsule. NASA plans to launch the first, unmanned flight of the new system to fly around the moon in 2017.