NASA has postponed the March launch of its Artemis II mission, pushing back the planned flight of the Orion spacecraft with four astronauts on board. The space agency said the mission will not take place in March because of newly identified technical issues.
According to Deutsche Welle, engineers detected a helium leak in the rocket’s pressurization system. Officials decided to roll the Space Launch System and the Orion spacecraft back from the launch pad to the Vehicle Assembly Building for repairs. The move effectively eliminates all March launch windows.
The mission had already been delayed from February to March because of a hydrogen leak, adding to a series of setbacks for the program.
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The next possible launch opportunity is no earlier than April 2026, with the following available window opening April 1, according to published schedules.
Artemis II is set to become the first crewed mission of NASA’s new lunar program and the first time astronauts travel beyond low-Earth orbit since the Apollo era. The four-member crew is expected to orbit the Moon for about 10 days before returning to Earth.
NASA unveiled the Artemis program in 2019, outlining plans to return U.S. astronauts to the lunar surface, establish a sustained presence near the Moon and use it as a stepping stone for future missions to Mars.
