It Could Take Weeks to Fix Fuel Leak in NASA SLS Lunar Rocket

NASA said it could take several weeks to fix the fuel leak that derailed the second launch of the Space Launch System lunar rocket.

Earlier, NASA engineers detected a liquid hydrogen leak in one of the rocket’s tanks hours before its launch. They then made three attempts to fix the problem, but were unable to resolve it. As a result, the launch of the SLS rocket for a second time had to be postponed to further assess the situation.

The assessment and repair work could delay the launch of Artemis 1 by at least another two weeks. Jim Free, NASA's associate administrator for exploration systems development, said:

We will not be launching in this launch period.

NASA initially said that if the malfunction is fixed, another attempt to send the SLS system into orbit could be attempted on 6 September.

The next launch window would open on September 16 and close on 4 October. If NASA fails to fix the fuel leak, the Artemis 1 launch could be pushed back to a later date, as the next launch window will be from 17 October to 31 October.