NASA has announced that the Artemis-2 mission will not launch in March due to technical problems detected on the rocket. The information was confirmed by the head of the American space agency, Jared Isaacman.
Overnight, teams identified a malfunction in the helium flow at one of the launcher's stages. Regardless of the precise cause of this anomaly, the rocket will have to be returned to the assembly building for further checks, making it impossible to meet the launch window initially planned for March.
Further analyses are essential.
Just the day before, NASA was suggesting a launch no earlier than March 6, following a full-scale test deemed satisfactory at first glance. However, engineers cautioned that several days of analysis and further technical adjustments were still needed before a final go-ahead.
This postponement concerns a highly symbolic mission: Artemis-2 is scheduled to send four astronauts – three Americans and one Canadian – around the Moon for a flight of approximately ten days, marking the first crewed lunar mission in over fifty years. Placed in quarantine in preparation for a launch in early March, the crew members could now be released, pending a new launch schedule.
