NASA’s Artemis I Launch Delayed Because of Engine Bleed

The Artemis 1 rocket stands ready on Launch Pad 39-B at the Kennedy Space Center, Friday,
AP Photo/Brynn Anderson
Hannah Knudsen

NASA’s Artemis I rocket launch, which was supposed to embark on a one-month journey circling the moon’s orbit, is not taking off Monday because of an engine bleed.

According to NASA’s blog tracking the series of events that led to the postponement, engineers began troubleshooting as issues arose prior to the two-hour window at the Kennedy Space Center. Specifically, it involved “an issue conditioning one of the RS-25 engines (engine 3) on the bottom of the core stage.”  

Ultimately, the launch director postponed the launch early Monday morning after they ran out of time for the two-hour window for the rocket launch:

The launch director halted today’s Artemis I launch attempt at approximately 8:34 a.m. EDT. The Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft remain in a safe and stable configuration. Launch controllers were continuing to evaluate why a bleed test to get the RS-25 engines on the bottom of the core stage to the proper temperature range for liftoff was not successful, and ran out of time in the two-hour launch window. Engineers are continuing to gather additional data.

The backup dates are scheduled for Friday, September 2, or Monday, September 5, although it remains unclear if it will be ready to launch at that point, given the looming issue.

 Notably, the unmanned Artemis I, which can hold four astronauts, was not even set to land on the moon but circle its orbit for a month-long mission, supposedly marking NASA’s efforts to delve back into moon missions, where the agency hopes to take astronauts by 2025.

“We don’t launch until it’s right,” NASA administrator Bill Nelson said following the postponement. “And in fact, they’ve got a problem with the gases going on the engine bleed on one engine. You can’t go. There are certain guidelines.”

“And I think it’s just illustrative that this is a very complicated machine, a very complicated system, and all those things have to work, and you don’t want to light the candle until it’s ready to go,” he added:

The postponement is also significant, as Vice President Kamala Harris, who chairs the Biden administration’s National Space Council, was present for the event and expected to deliver remarks after the launch.

According to NASA Inspector General Paul Martin, each of the first few Artemis missions will cost about $4.1 billion.

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