NASA aims for mid-November launch of delayed Artemis moon mission

NASA said Wednesday that it is planning to launch its Artemis I moon mission in mid-November, after past launch attempts in recent months were postponed because of technical and weather difficulties.

Last month NASA rolled back the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which carries the Orion capsule for Artemis I, off the launchpad and into the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) for protection at Kennedy Space Center with Hurricane Ian bearing down on Florida. NASA first tried to launch Artemis I in August but has called off multiple attempts since then.

Confirming the agency leaders’ expectation that the next attempt to launch Artemis I would not be likely until at least November, NASA is now targeting the early hours of Nov. 14 for liftoff. The launch window opens at 12:07 a.m. ET that day.

The uncrewed Artemis I mission would mark the debut of the SLS and Orion capsule, for what would be a more than monthlong journey around the moon. It kicks off NASA’s long-awaited return to the moon’s surface, the first mission in the Artemis lunar program. Tentatively, the plan is to land the agency’s astronauts on the moon by its third Artemis mission in 2025.

This first mission is five years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget. More than $40 billion has already been spent on the Artemis program, much of that toward SLS and Orion’s development. The system comes with a per-launch price tag of $4.1 billion.

NASA used the time back in the VAB to inspect the rocket and capsule, saying Wednesday that inspections confirmed “minimal work is required to prepare” for the next launch attempt. The agency plans to roll the rocket back out to the Launch Complex 39B pad as soon as Nov. 4.