NASA is on the verge of attempting a second launch of the Artemis Moon Rocket on its inaugural test flight.
NASA officials claimed Saturday afternoon's launch of the 32-story-tall Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and its Orion space capsule will begin off NASA's moon-to-Mars Artemis program, the successor to the Apollo lunar expeditions a half-century ago.
Technicians seemed to have patched a faulty fuel line that led to NASA's decision to stop Monday's maiden launch operation, according to tests done Thursday night, Jeremy Parsons, a deputy programme manager at the space centre, told reporters on Friday.
Forecasts for the two-hour Saturday launch window, which opens at 2:17 p.m. EDT, as well as a backup launch time on Monday, according to Melody Lovin, a launch weather officer with the United States Space Force at Cape Canaveral.
NASA's first step is to launch the SLS, the largest new vertical launch vehicle created by the US space agency since the Saturn V rocket of the Apollo period.
The SLS and Orion have been in the works for more than a decade, with years of delays and skyrocketing expenditures totaling at least $37 billion as of last year.