According to Space.com NASA is rescheduling a 3rd attempt to launch the Artemis 1 moon-rocket. The mission is now set for September 23rd. The NASA team plans a beta test flight to the moon to make way for the crewed Artemis II flight.

The Artemis 1 moon mission is the first big step toward returning astronauts to the lunar surface. With the Apollo missions, between 1969 and 1972 NASA sent 6 manned missions to the moon. And we haven’t been back since that time.

 Artemis 1 will be the first time the Space Launch System (SLS) moon-rocket with the Orion crew capsule has ever been used. The SLS is 322-foot-tall (98 meters). 

The massive SLS rocket will send out the Orion spacecraft to orbit the moon before it returns to Earth. The mission will last approximately 42-days.

Moon-rocket needs Space Force sign-off

Jim Free, NASA's associate administrator for exploration systems development, said that NASA's Artemis 1 moon mission launch could lift off on Sept. 23 or Sept. 27 if certain conditions are met.

In the meantime, the space agency is still working on a list of things to get accomplished before sending Artemis I on its way.  

NASA still has to fix a small hydrogen leak. And needs to pass the critical fueling “bleed test” which failed in engine 3 at the second launch attempt.

The Space Force oversees the Eastern Range area where Florida rocket launches take place. 

And perhaps most urgent they need a critical waiver from the U.S. Space Force. Without securing a critical safety system waiver there will be no launch this month. Getting the waiver to extend the time frame for FTS testing would avoid weeks of delays that would push 1 launch into October.

NASA is required to test the SLS batteries on the Flight Termination System (FTS) every 25 days. The FTS system is designed to destroy the rocket if it veers off course during launch and poses a threat to people on the ground. 

These tests would require the massive moon-rocket to leave the launch pad and roll back to its hangar. This would mean at least 3 additional weeks till launch.

Free said Artemis 1 mission managers are working well with Space Force reps. And a waiver request to the Eastern Range was submitted this week.

"After meeting with us several times, they've been very gracious and understanding of what we're trying to do," he said in a teleconference. "Our job is to live to their requirements. That is their range. And it's our job to comply with their requirements."