SLS rocket launch Artemis mission canceled due to bad weather

The launch of the Artemis rocket, which was supposed to take place on September 27, has been postponed. Due to the passing of Tropical Storm Ian, NASA decided to postpone the launch. The space agency will announce a new launch date on Sunday.

NASA meteorologists expect the storm to become a hurricane, but it remains uncertain how exactly the storm will develop. Therefore, NASA has decided to postpone the launch of the Artemis rocket to another date, the space agency reports on Saturday.

The agency will decide on Sunday what the new launch date will be. Then it also decides whether it wants to return the rocket to the assembly hall at the Kennedy Space Center. Preparations are currently being made for this. If the hurricane isn’t over and the weather doesn’t improve before October 3, the next opportunity will happen on October 17 at the earliest.

Recently, NASA successfully completed all the steps for filling its Artemis rocket with fuel. Despite the fact that a leak occurred at a coupling piece, the technicians were able to intervene in time and refueling could resume after some time.

Update, 10.27 am: An earlier version of the article stated that the Artemis rocket had already been returned to the assembly hall at Kennedy Space Center. However, this had not yet happened. That is why the article has been amended.