Agency Troubleshooting Artemis II Upper Stage Issue, Preparing Rollback

After overnight Feb. 21 observations showed interrupted helium flow in the SLS rocket’s interim cryogenic propulsion stage, the agency is preparing to possibly roll back the Artemis II rocket and Orion spacecraft to the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Helium flow is required for launch.

Teams are actively reviewing data and taking steps to enable rollback positions while engineers determine the best path forward. To protect troubleshooting options at both Pad B and the VAB, crews are preparing to remove the pad access platforms installed yesterday; those platforms have wind-driven constraints and cannot be removed during the high winds forecast for tomorrow.

This will almost assuredly impact the March launch window. The agency will continue to provide updates.

United States, Florida

artemis ii, sls, interim stage, helium flow, rollback, vab, orion spacecraft, pad b, pad access, launch window