“Launch controllers were continuing to evaluate why a bleed test to get the RS-25 engines on the bottom of the core stage to the proper temperature range for liftoff was not successful, and ran out of time in the two-hour launch window,” according to a statement on NASA’s website. “Engineers are continuing to gather additional data.”

The setback comes after years of delays for the Artemis I mission, which takes a major step in returning humans to the moon — and, eventually, landing them on Mars.

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On Monday morning, the first Space Launch System rocket, carrying the Orion spacecraft, was scheduled to launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Backup options for the Artemis I mission include Sept. 2 and Sept. 5, according to Space.com.

Although it is an unmanned mission, the event is a crucial test flight that, if successful, will set the stage for major space ventures over the next few years.

When is the Artemis I launch happening now?

On Friday 2 September, the Space Launch System rocket would have a two-hour window to launch starting at 10:48 a.m. MDT, while the Sept. 5 launch date would have a 90-minute window to launch starting at 3:12 p.m. MDT.

What happens after Artemis 1?

If the Artemis I mission goes well, there will be a second mission that will carry people onboard the Orion spacecraft, according to The Verge. It would mark the first manned mission to the moon since the Apollo era, although the astronauts would just orbit and not land.

A third Artemis mission in the works would land the first woman on the moon, The Verge reported.

“This is a mission that truly will do what hasn’t been done and learn what isn’t known,” Mike Sarafin, Artemis I mission manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in a statement, per Yahoo! News. “It will blaze a trail that people will follow on the next Orion flight, pushing the edges of the envelope to prepare for that mission.”

“The Artemis programme hopes to return astronauts to the surface of the moon by 2026 and establish a sustainable human presence there by the end of the decade,” according to Yahoo! News.

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