A day after NASA officials optimistically said they were on track to launch astronauts around the moon early next month, a problem with the rocket’s upper stage will require rolling it off the launchpad for repairs.
In a post on X on Saturday morning, Jared Isaacman, the NASA administrator, said data showed an interruption of helium flow to the rocket’s upper stage.
In a later post, Mr. Isaacman described several possible causes, but all of them will require a delay. “This will take the March launch window out of consideration,” he said.
The next set of possible launch dates is between April 1 and April 6.
Helium is used to pressurize the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in the propellant tanks. It is needed for the rocket engine to work properly.
“I understand people are disappointed by this development,” Mr. Isaacman said. “That disappointment is felt most by the team at NASA, who have been working tirelessly to prepare for this great endeavor.”
The rocket, known as the Space Launch System, is to send four astronauts on a journey to the moon and back during NASA’s Artemis II mission. Although Artemis II will not land on the moon, it will be the first time that astronauts have left low-Earth orbit since the end of the Apollo moon landings more than 50 years ago.
Mr. Isaacman said on Saturday that troubleshooting was underway and that it was necessary to roll the rocket off the launchpad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and back to the Vehicle Assembly Building.
The building, which is like a giant garage for rockets, would provide technicians access to examine the upper stage and make repairs before the rocket returned to the launchpad.
On Thursday, NASA completed a dress rehearsal of the countdown. During a news conference on Friday, Lori Glaze, the acting associate administrator for NASA’s exploration systems development mission directorate, said that the test proceeded “very smoothly” and that the space agency was in a “good position” for a March 6 launch.
Mr. Isaacman said the helium system performed as expected during the countdown rehearsal.
“This was an unexpected development during routine helium flow operations last evening,” Mr. Isaacman wrote on X. “The teams were up all night assessing the situation.”
He said a similar failure occurred during launch preparations for Artemis I, an uncrewed test flight that successfully launched in 2022.
In preparation for the rollback, technicians are now removing platforms that were installed on Friday for the remaining work needed before launch.
Kenneth Chang, a science reporter at The Times, covers NASA and the solar system, and research closer to Earth.
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