Local company brings Artemis rocket to life

A local company has launched its very own model rocket commemorating the historic Artemis II mission.

Seend‑based company City Dressing has created a replica of the Artemis II rocket, which launched from NASA in Florida on 1st April with four astronauts on board for a planned 10‑day mission around the moon, the first crewed lunar voyage in more than 50 years

City Dressing’s replica is a 5.5-metre-high rocket installation designed to simulate a live launch every hour, featuring a countdown sequence, immersive sound effects, dynamic lighting and smoke effects to recreate the drama of a real launch.

Built in-house by a team of 10, the rocket took several months to develop. Deputy Managing director Tom Hardy said, “We have been working on it for three or four months to make sure that it can work remotely. We are absolutely thrilled with it.”

The rocket is the centrepiece of a wider educational space trail designed for shopping centres and public spaces, featuring giant planets, astronauts and information displays.

“It’s taken a while and a lot of testing,” Tom added. “We had to think about not wanting the smoke alarms to go off in shopping centres, so we had to tailor the smoke. Every hour on the hour, the rocket does a 10-second countdown. We have lots of smoke bellowing from it, lots of rocket sounds, lots of lights and lasers, and then it goes into a static phase before repeating on the hour.”

The company creates installations for towns and city centres across the country, including pop-up parks, dinosaur trails and grass animals aimed at boosting footfall and supporting local economies.