Artemis II: Nasa targets early April for Moon mission

Nasa says it's on track to launch its Artemis II mission in early April, which will see astronauts fly around the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years.

The rocket had been set to blast off in March, but after a helium leak was discovered it was returned to the Vehicle Assembly Building in Cape Canaveral, Florida, for repairs.

Nasa says it's confident the problem is fixed, and is planning to roll the rocket back out to the launchpad on 19 March, with the earliest possible launch date of 1 April. Speaking at a press briefing, Nasa leaders also emphasised the risks involved with the mission.

They will be the first humans to fly on Nasa's mega Moon rocket - the Space Launch System - and in the Orion spacecraft. Over the course of the 10-day mission, they are due to travel around the far side of the Moon - which is the side we never see from Earth - and back home again.

"If you look at the data over time, over the lifespan of building new rockets, the data would show you that one out of two is successful. You're only successful 50% of the time. I think we're in a much better position than that," he said.

"We do an outstanding job of understanding the risk, buying down the risk, mitigating the risk, and putting together controls to manage the risk." The Nasa team said they were not going to attempt another so-called "wet dress rehearsal" once the rocket had been rolled out to the launchpad.

This is a pre-launch test where the rocket is filled with fuel and taken through the countdown sequence. "There's not a lot more to be gained from that," said Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator, Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate.

"The next time we tank the vehicle will be when we're attempting to launch." She added there was still work to do before Nasa confirmed a launch date. "I am comfortable and the agency is comfortable with targeting April 1 as our first opportunity, just keep in mind we still have work to go," said Glaze.

Nasa is under pressure to launch the Artemis II mission. It has already been delayed by two years after problems were found with the heat shield on the first Artemis mission, which saw the Space Launch System and Orion capsule fly to the Moon without any people onboard.

In December 2024, the space agency set a deadline to launch Artemis II before the end of April 2026. "At this point, we're very focused on April," said Glaze.