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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 2:58pm
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NASA has moved its grounded Artemis moon rocket from the launch pad back to its hangar at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida 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 rollback to the Vehicle Assembly Building, about 4 miles away.
Why it matters
The Artemis II mission is the first crewed flight of NASA's new moon rocket and spacecraft, marking the first time astronauts will travel to the moon since the Apollo program ended in 1972. The delay in the launch timeline is a setback for NASA's ambitious Artemis program to return humans to the lunar surface.
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 mission had been targeting a March 2026 launch, but is now delayed until at least April 2026.
The players
NASA
The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the federal agency responsible for the nation's public space program and aerospace research.
Artemis II
The second mission in NASA's Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the lunar surface for the first time since the Apollo program ended in 1972.
What’s next
The launch team will work to resolve the issues with the rocket's helium pressurization system while it is back in the Vehicle Assembly Building. NASA is now targeting an April 2026 launch for the Artemis II mission.
The takeaway
The delay in the Artemis II launch timeline is a setback for NASA's ambitious plans to return astronauts to the moon, but the agency is working to address the technical issues with the rocket in order to get the mission off the ground as soon as possible.
