NASA’s Artemis II lunar slingshot mission delayed

(CNN) Efforts to get NASA’s historic moon mission off the ground have stalled once again, as engineers navigate a new issue with the rocket set to propel four astronauts on an unprecedented path.

The agency announced Saturday that it had detected a problem with flow of helium, a gas that’s used to pressurize fuel tanks and clean out propellant lines, in the upper part of the Space Launch System, or SLS, moon rocket. Now, the space agency must roll the rocket off the launchpad and into the nearby Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, for servicing as soon as Wednesday — a move that effectively takes the possibility of a March launch date off the table.

The decision represented an abrupt reversal from Friday, when agency officials — on the heels of a fueling test called a wet dress rehearsal — expressed confidence in the potential for a March 6 liftoff. NASA leaders characterized the test, which concluded Thursday, as a success, saying launch controllers had appeared to solve a series of hydrogen fuel leaks that cropped up during an earlier rehearsal in early February.

The helium problem came as a surprise, arising after NASA had wrapped up the latest wet dress Thursday. And launch controllers still aren’t certain what caused the hangup, though NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said that in any case the issue must be addressed off the launchpad.

NASA is now targeting no earlier than April to launch the mission, called Artemis II.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/24/science/artemis-2-roll-back-launch-date