NASA stands down from Sept 27 launch of Artemis 1 as Storm Ian approaches Florida

NASA has finally announced that it is foregoing the Artemis 1 launch opportunity on September 27 due to Tropical Storm Ian brewing near the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean. Artemis 1 was supposed to lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida during a 70-minute launch window which opens at 9:07 pm IST but heavy rainfall and thunderstorms are predicted across the US state in the coming days. 

“During a meeting Saturday morning, teams decided to stand down on preparing for the Tuesday launch date to allow them to configure systems for rolling back the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft to the Vehicle Assembly Building”, NASA said in its statement.

The Space Launch System (SLS rocket) is most likely to be rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) as it needs to be sheltered from the approaching storm. The agency said it needs another day before making the final decision on removing the rocket from the launch pad.

“If Artemis I managers elect to roll back, it would begin late Sunday night or early Monday morning”, the statement further read. It is worth noting that NASA has another launch opportunity on October 3 when a 109-minute-long window opens at 12:22 am IST, although the removal of the SLS rocket might cause a delay beyond the said date.

(Weather forecast over Florida; Image: NOAA/National Hurricane Center)

NASA is currently monitoring the weather amidst a dilemma to remove the $4 billion rocket from the launch pad or miss the next launch opportunity if it is shifted to the VAB. However, Jim Free, NASA’s Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Development, said that the teams are now configuring the rocket for the rollback. "A final decision on rolling back to the Vehicle Assembly Building will be made tomorrow, but this step-wise approach gives our employees time to address the needs of their families while preserving a launch opportunity if conditions improve", Free tweeted. 

This comes as a huge disappointment considering the fact that the US Space Force approved the request of conducting the Artemis 1 launch on October 3 if not on September 27. Besides, NASA also conducted a successful fuel test of the SLS rocket on September 21 and fixed the propellant leakage which caused a launch delay on September 3, the second time after the first one on August 29. Notably, the agency is already running six years late in launching the SLS rocket, which was originally planned to take off in 2016.