Nasa hauls repaired Moon rocket back to pad ahead of planned launch in April

The Nasa Artemis II rocket with the Orion spacecraft on board is moved slowly to a launch pad at the Kennedy Space Centre (Terry Renna/AP)

For the second time this year, Nasa has moved its Moon rocket from the hangar out towards the pad in the hope of launching four astronauts on a lunar fly-around next month.

If the latest repairs work and everything else goes Nasa’s way, the Space Launch System could blast off as early as April 1 from Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre.

The Artemis II crew went into quarantine this week in Houston.

The Nasa Artemis II rocket is being rolled to a launch pad at the Kennedy Space Centre (Terry Renna/AP)

The 322-foot rocket began the slow four-mile trek in the middle of the night, transported on top of a massive crawler used since the 1960s Apollo era. It was expected to take 12 hours.

The trip was held up for several hours by high wind.

The three Americans and one Canadian will zip around the Moon in their capsule and then come straight home without stopping.

SLS and Orion are on their way to Pad 39B! Check out photos as they were rolled out of the Vehicle Assembly Building atop the mobile launcher. 📷: https://t.co/C19g5X1X8F pic.twitter.com/XTWBnqKsCc

— NASA HQ PHOTO (@nasahqphoto) March 20, 2026

Their mission should have been completed by now, but hydrogen fuel leaks and clogged helium lines forced two months of delay.

While technicians plugged the leaks at the pad, the helium issue could only be fixed in the Vehicle Assembly Building, forcing Nasa to roll the rocket back at the end of February.

The last time Nasa sent astronauts to the Moon was during Apollo 17 in 1972. The new Artemis programne aims for a two-person landing in 2028.