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NASA announced the delay of Artemis II, a mission that will send four astronauts on a 10-day trip around the moon and back to Earth, to March after engineers noticed a hydrogen leak in the rocket.
By Adrianne Reece Feb 03, 2026 6:18 PMTags
Stranded NASA Astronaut Barry Butch" Wilmore's Daughter Breaks Silence
This countdown to liftoff has been extended.
NASA announced it has delayed the launch of Artemis II, a mission that will send four astronauts on a 10-day trip around the moon and back to Earth, after engineers noticed a liquid hydrogen leak in the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.
According to the space organization, the mission managers spotted the issue during a “two-day” wet dress rehearsal—which the agency said is “a prelaunch test designed to identify any issues” with the SLS—at the Kennedy Space Center.
The test’s countdown originally started on Jan. 31, but due to the defect, NASA was forced to end the operation in the early hours of Feb. 3.
“Attempts to resolve the issue involved stopping the flow of liquid hydrogen into the core stage, allowing the interface to warm up for the seals to reseat, and adjusting the flow of the propellant,” NASA wrote in their statement that same day. “To allow teams to review data and conduct a second wet dress rehearsal, NASA now will target March as the earliest possible launch opportunity for the flight test.”
With this delay, the group of Artemis II astronauts—including pilot Victor Glover, commander Reid Wiseman, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen—will exit the mandatory pre-launch quarantine until they schedule “the next targeted launch opportunity.”
Though this delay will potentially add another month to Artemis II’s nearly five-year process, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman noted this mission can only be successful if the entire crew is safe.
“We will only launch when we believe we are ready,” he wrote in a Feb. 3 post on X. “This is just the beginning. It marks the start of an Artemis program that will evolve to support repeated and affordable missions to the Moon.”
With the conclusion of the wet dress rehearsal today, we are moving off the February launch window and targeting March for the earliest possible launch of Artemis II.
With more than three years between SLS launches, we fully anticipated encountering challenges. That is precisely…
This isn’t the first time NASA has dealt with a postponement, as astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore’s week-long mission to space in June 2024 turned into nine months on the International Space Station due to malfunctions on their Boeing vehicle. The duo eventually made their long-awaited homecoming last March.
And while an unexpected detour, they shared the one optimistic phrase that helped them stay focused.
“My first thought was, ‘We’ve just got to pivot,’” Williams told Fox News of the incident after their arrival back to Earth. “I was like, ‘Let’s make the best of it.’”
Wilmore also echoed the sentiment.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen,” he explained. “We might not be back in eight days or whatever the plan was. Focus on that, focus on the mission.”
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