SpaceX “Needs” To Pump Chilled Rocket Fuel In Space For NASA Tests Says Official

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In a widely anticipated teleconference, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson unsurprisingly extended the dates for the space agency's first two crewed missions to the Moon since the Apollo program. NASA's Artemis program launched its first successful mission in 2022, and Artemis 2 was initially planned to take to the skies this year by flying a crew around the Moon.

Artemis 3 was scheduled to take off a year later and work in tandem with SpaceX's Starship rocket. Now, NASA has delayed Artemis 2 and 3 by a year. However, the Artemis 4 mission is on track for a launch no earlier than September 2028, and the NASA Administrator explained that the delay was to allow mission teams to work on safety goals.

Along with Administrator Nelson, other NASA officials present during the teleconference also shared details about the progress of the Artemis program. According to NASA's Amit Kshatriya, the primary reason behind the delay to the Artemis 2 mission from 2024 to 2025 is safety. Some design concerns that NASA discovered on the Orion spacecraft's valves as well as unexpected behavior by the heatshield, have made the agency recaliberate its Artemis 2 and Artemis 3 launch timelines.

NASA's Associate Administrator Jim Free added that 2024 will be a year of testing and development for the space agency as it works on new spacesuits, SpaceX's Starship rocket tests and other areas requiring continuous risk minimization, particularly regarding hardware availability and understanding.

Shifting to SpaceX, its Starship rocket is an integral part of the timely completion of the Artemis program. Added to the call