Artemis II: NASA prepares to roll back rocket to assembly building, will not launch in March

2026-02-22

NASA will be rolling back the Artemis II SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida observing interrupted flow of helium in the rocket’s interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS). Weather pending, the roll back will take place on Tuesday, February 24.

The ICPS helium bottles are used to purge the engines, as well as for liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tank pressurization. The systems worked correctly during both wet dress rehearsals held in February. During a routine repressurization operation during the night of February 21, the team was unable to get helium flow through the vehicle.

NASA is investigating potential faults, but accessing and remediating any of these issues can only be performed in the VAB. This removes the March launch opportunities from consideration.

NASA will hold a press briefing in the coming days to discuss rollback and plans for the Artemis II test flight. Stay tuned for updates.

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