NASA said Tuesday it is targeting a March launch for its new moon rocket after fuel leaks disrupted a critical test at Kennedy Space Center a day earlier.
The agency said the delay will allow teams to review data and conduct a second wet dress rehearsal before the flight test. NASA did not provide a specific launch date, stating that teams must first review test results, address the issues, and return to testing.
The leaks occurred a few hours into Monday’s fueling operation, raising questions about the timeline for sending astronauts into space. Launch controllers began loading the 322-foot Space Launch System rocket with super-cold hydrogen and oxygen at midday, with more than 700,000 gallons required to remain in the tanks for several hours to simulate the final stages of a countdown.
Excess hydrogen accumulated near the base of the rocket, prompting the launch team to halt hydrogen loading at least twice while they applied troubleshooting techniques developed during a previous countdown in 2022. NASA also reported delays in close-out operations and recurring audio dropouts affecting ground crew communications.
The four astronauts assigned to the mission — three Americans and one Canadian — monitored the test from Houston at the Johnson Space Center. NASA said the crew will leave their nearly two-week quarantine and reenter it about two weeks before the next launch window.
Before the postponement, the earliest possible launch had been no sooner than Sunday. NASA has limited launch opportunities each month, and extreme cold reduced February’s window by two days.
The mission is expected to last nearly 10 days and will send the crew past the moon and around its far side before returning directly to Earth. The flight will test the capsule’s life-support and other systems. The astronauts will not enter lunar orbit or attempt a landing.
NASA last sent astronauts to the moon during the Apollo program in the 1960s and 1970s. The Artemis program aims to establish a sustained human presence on the moon, with this mission intended to prepare for future lunar landings.