NASA Postpones Artemis II Rollback to February 25 Due to Weather
NASA has rescheduled the rollback of the Artemis II rocket to February 25, 2026, citing adverse weather conditions at Kennedy Space Center.
NASA has rescheduled the rollback of the Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The move is now set for Wednesday, February 25, 2026, due to anticipated cold temperatures and high winds on Tuesday.
The approximately 4-mile journey from Launch Complex 39B to the VAB is expected to take up to 12 hours. Once inside the VAB, technicians will install platforms to access the area of the helium flow issue in the rocket's upper stage.
The Artemis II mission aims to send a crew of four astronauts on a 10-day journey around the Moon, marking NASA's first crewed lunar mission since the Apollo era. The mission's launch, initially targeted for March 6, 2026, has been postponed to at least April due to the helium flow issue.