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NASA Moves Artemis II Moon Rocket Off Launch Pad for Repairs
The slow-motion trek back to the Vehicle Assembly Building is expected to take all day.
Feb. 25, 2026 at 8:00pm
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NASA has moved its grounded Artemis moon rocket from the launch pad back to its hangar at Florida's Kennedy Space Center for more repairs. The 322-foot Space Launch System rocket had been at the pad for a month, but encountered a series of problems that were serious enough to require the return to the Vehicle Assembly Building, about 4 miles away.
Why it matters
The Artemis II mission is set to be the first crewed flight of NASA's new moon rocket, marking the first time astronauts will travel to the lunar surface in decades. The repeated delays and technical issues with the rocket have pushed back the timeline for this historic mission.
The details
Managers ordered the rollback over the weekend after the rocket's helium pressurization system malfunctioned. The launch team had been targeting March for the Artemis II lunar fly-around by a U.S.-Canadian crew, but the flight is now delayed until at least April.
- NASA moved the Artemis II rocket from the launch pad back to the Vehicle Assembly Building on Wednesday, February 25, 2026.
- The Artemis II lunar fly-around mission by a U.S.-Canadian crew was previously targeted for March 2026, but is now delayed until at least April 2026.
The players
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and space research.
Artemis II
The second mission in NASA's Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the Moon, with the first crewed flight around the Moon planned for this mission.
What’s next
NASA engineers will work to diagnose and repair the issues with the Artemis II rocket's helium pressurization system in the Vehicle Assembly Building. The agency will then need to roll the rocket back out to the launch pad and complete final testing before the mission can lift off, now targeted for no earlier than April 2026.
The takeaway
The repeated delays and technical problems with the Artemis II moon rocket highlight the challenges NASA faces in developing and launching its new deep-space exploration system. While setbacks are common in spaceflight, the stakes are high for this mission, which will mark the first time astronauts travel to the lunar surface in over 50 years.
