Artemis launch - as it happened: Nasa delays moon after rocket launch scrubbed

Nasa scrubbed the launch of its Artemis-1 mission on Saturday, 3 September, with around two-and-a-half hours left on the countdown in Cape Canaveral, Florida (Nasa)

Nasa has scrubbed the second attempt to launch its moon rocket after failing to fix a leak, pushing back its Artemis 1 mission by more than a month.

The space agency was aiming to launch its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket as part of the Artemis programme that one day hopes to put humans back onto the lunar surface.

But technical problems once again caused the launch to be postponed, five days after the first attempt was scrubbed.

“A leak developed in the supply side of the 8-inch quick disconnect while attempting to transfer fuel to the rocket,” Nasa said, but is yet to give an update on when a new launch date will be set, though it could be as early as Sunday.

If successful, the spacecraft will launch off Earth and around the Moon, before heading back down to our planet 42 days later. This time, the Orion crew capsule is empty – but if this journey is successful, then a trip with humans on board is to come.

Key points

• Nasa scrubs Artemis launch
• Nasa to hold post-scrub news conference at 4pm ET
• Nasa says next Artemis launch will likely be October

[3 September 2022 10:13 · Andrew Griffin]

Hello and welcome...

... to The Independent’s live coverage of Nasa’s Artemis launch.

It’s the second time it will try and head back to the Moon, after major technical problems postponed a planned launch on Monday.

[3 September 2022 11:11 · Andrew Griffin]

Nasa has said today’s launch is a “go”. That doesn’t mean we’ll definitely get one – any kind of technical or weather problems could still lead to it being scrubbed – but everything is progressing as it should be, for now.

[3 September 2022 11:12 · Andrew Griffin]

Weather looks favourable – mostly

The weather does not look likely to ruin today’s launch. The chances aren’t great – but they are favourable, overall.

You can read about Nasa’s weather forecast here.

[3 September 2022 11:41 · Andrew Griffin]

Weather still looking OK

The weather isn’t great in Florida this morning. (But it’s good enough to start filling up the rocket, which has now begun.)

But things are still looking good for later. There’s a 60% chance of favourable conditions when the window opens, which goes up to 80% by the end of the launch window.

[3 September 2022 12:32 · Andrew Griffin]

Artemis launch hit by first big problem

The countdown clock just started, but there’s already an issue, as engineers take a look at a liquid hydrogen leak that has appeared as the rocket has started being filled up. Here’s the latest update from Nasa:

“Engineers detected a liquid hydrogen leak in a quick disconnect cavity and have stopped flowing the propellant to the core stage while they troubleshoot. Launch controllers are attempting to warm up the quick disconnect to attempt to reseat it to get a tight seal. Liquid oxygen flow is continuing.”

In short, that means that there’s a leak in one of the attachments, and engineers are now trying to work out whether they can fix it. The quick disconnect will take 30 minutes to warm up and it might reseat and seal the leak then.

[3 September 2022 12:47 · Andrew Griffin]

Problem is similar to one that ended launch last time

On Monday, the launch was pulled because of a hydrogen leak. Now there appears to be another one.

This is coming from a different place – the quick disconnect at the heart of this problem has been fine in all the previous fillings of the rocket.

[3 September 2022 12:50 · Andrew Griffin]

Moon rocket could explode without care

While we’re waiting for updates, it’s worth revisiting this piece from Jon Kelvey – what’s at stake when Nasa “scrubs” a launch, and what might happen if it didn’t? (Spoiler: a lot.)

[3 September 2022 13:32 · Andrew Griffin]

Leaking seal appears to have fixed itself

As engineers had hoped, the leaking seal appears to have sealed itself: hydrogen is flowing again. Engineers had hoped that warming it up would force it back in properly, and that seems to have happened.

It’s not clear yet what that will have on the launch window.

[3 September 2022 14:08 · Andrew Griffin]

Leak not fixed after all

As more hydrogen flows through the seal, it’s leaking again. Engineers are going to switch it back off again and see if they can get the seal to get back into place.

Again, all of this is very much unplanned; with a two-hour window, there’s space for some delays, but not loads.

[3 September 2022 14:33 · Andrew Griffin]

Fingers crossed as engineers try again

With an important seal loose, engineers have a plan: increase the pressure, and hope that it gets the seal back into the quick disconnect fitting, where it should be, so that the leak will stop. That pressure has been increased – and now it’s a matter of crossing fingers and hoping the leak is fixed.