NASA Sets Earliest Artemis II Launch for Feb. 8 After Weather Delay Shifts Fueling to Feb. 2

Overview

• SLS and Orion are on Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center as teams prepare a full wet dress fueling rehearsal now scheduled for Monday, Feb. 2.
• NASA cited an Arctic cold snap and high winds in Florida for the schedule change, with protective heating and purge systems configured for the cold.
• An official launch date will be set only after the fueling test review, with the soonest opportunity now Sunday, Feb. 8 and additional windows extending into March and early April.
• The four-person crew—Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen—remains in prelaunch quarantine in Houston.
• The mission will not land on the Moon and is intended to validate deep-space navigation, communications, Orion habitability and heat-shield performance, marking the first human voyage to lunar vicinity since 1972.