NASA Postpones Artemis Launch Over Fuel-Related Leak

UPDATE 9/3: NASA has postponed the Artemis-1 mission after teams were unable to “fix an issue related to a leak in the hardware transferring fuel into the rocket.”

The leak developed in the “supply side of the 8-inch quick disconnect” and appeared while teams were “attempting to transfer fuel to the rocket,” NASA says. More details are expected at a press conference later today.

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UPDATE 8/31: NASA has decided that another launch attempt is possible during a two-hour window on Saturday, Sept. 3 starting at 2:19 p.m. ET.

Over the next two days, the Artemis team is going to “modify and practice propellant loading procedures to follow a procedure similar to what was successfully performed during the Green Run at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi,” the agency says.

One modification to the process will see the chilldown test of the engines (kick start bleed test) occur up to 45 minutes earlier(Opens in a new window) in the countdown and “during the liquid hydrogen fast fill liquid phase for the core stage.” It’s hoped this change will “address the issue” that stopped the previous launch attempt.

The one variable that may scupper this launch attempt is the weather. NASA says the prediction is for favorable weather conditions, but sporadic rain showers are expected. Another review of the situation is expected later today.

UPDATE 2: The earliest possible opportunity for launch is Friday, Sept. 2, during a two-hour window that opens at 12:48 p.m. ET, NASA says. Watch this morning’s briefing in the video below:

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UPDATE 8/29: NASA has cancelled the Artemis I launch for today, citing “an issue with an engine bleed.” “Teams will continue to gather data, and we will keep you posted on the timing of the next launch attempt,” the space agency says.

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Original Story 8/28:
NASA is planning to launch Artemis 1 on the morning of Aug. 29 despite a series of strikes on the lightning protection system at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The space agency says(Opens in a new window) “there were three lightning strikes to the lightning protection system towers at Launch Pad 39B – a strike to Tower 1, and two strikes to Tower 2,” on Aug. 27. But NASA will continue to prepare to launch Artemis 1 between 8:33 and 10:33am on Aug. 29.

“Overnight engineers evaluated data from lightning strikes to the lightning protection system at Launch Pad 39B that occurred yesterday,” NASA says(Opens in a new window). “They confirmed the strikes were of low magnitude and had no impacts to Space Launch System, Orion, or ground systems.”

The Orlando Sentinel reports(Opens in a new window) that more than 200,000 people are expected to visit “the Florida Space Coast” to watch the launch. Many more are likely to watch it virtually—the launch will be streamed on NASA TV(Opens in a new window), the NASA app(Opens in a new window), and NASA’s website(Opens in a new window) as well as Twitch(Opens in a new window) and YouTube.

NASA says it will also be providing full launch coverage for Artemis 1 on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social platforms.

“The first in an increasingly complex series of missions,” the space agency says, “Artemis I(Opens in a new window) will pave the way for long-term lunar exploration, providing the foundation for extending human presence to the Moon and beyond.” More information is available via NASA’s website(Opens in a new window).