The rollout of Nasa’s highly anticipated Artemis II Moon rocket to the launch pad has been delayed by at least a day, following the discovery of a minor technical issue during final preparations.
Teams are now targeting Friday, March 20, to move the rocket from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The delay comes after engineers identified a problem with an electrical harness linked to the flight termination system on the rocket’s core stage.
The system, a critical safety component, ensures that the rocket can be neutralised if it veers off course during launch. According to officials, the faulty harness has since been replaced, and teams are continuing with final checks ahead of rollout.
Originally scheduled for Thursday, March 19, the rollout is a crucial milestone for the Artemis II mission, which aims to send astronauts around the Moon in Nasa’s first crewed lunar mission in over five decades.
Despite the brief delay, Nasa says the timeline still supports a potential launch attempt on Wednesday, April 1, at the opening of the designated launch window.
Once the rollout begins, the journey to Launch Pad 39B will take up to 12 hours. The massive rocket will be transported atop Nasa’s crawler-transporter, a historic vehicle used for decades to carry Saturn V and Space Shuttle missions to their launch sites.
The agency plans to live-stream the rollout, offering space enthusiasts a real-time view of the slow but symbolic journey.
While technical readiness is being restored, teams are also closely monitoring weather conditions in the coming days, which could influence rollout timing and launch preparations.
The Artemis II mission marks a major step in Nasa’s broader Artemis program, which seeks to return humans to the Moon and establish a sustained presence there.
The successful rollout and launch will pave the way for future missions, including a planned crewed lunar landing later this decade.
