NASA's Artemis II rocket rolls to launch pad in final bid to meet April deadline
By Ben Turner
Published on March 20, 2026.
NASA's Artemis II moon rocket, the Space Launch System and Orion capsule stack, has returned to the launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida ahead of its April 1 deadline for a potential launch. This is the second time the rocket has been transported to a launchpad this year, after two wet dress rehearsals and two leaks caused it to return to the Vehicle Assembly Building for repairs. If successful, the rocket will take the mission's four-person crew on a 10-day trip around the moon and back. This isn't the first time an Artemis rocket has had issues, with the SLS rocket for the Artemis I mission returning to the vehicle Assembly Building more than once in 2022 before completing its uncrewed test flight around moon later that year.
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