SLS Launch Delayed to (No Earlier Than) April 2021
takyon writes:
SLS debut slips to April 2021, KSC teams working through launch sims
Preparations continue at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the first launch of the Space Launch System, or SLS rocket - NASA's gigantic rocket the agency hopes to use to launch humans to the lunar surface and to the commercial-rocket constructed Lunar Gateway.
But while Kennedy prepares for the rocket's arrival and first mission, various NASA centers are now actively planning for a No Earlier Than 18 April 2021 launch for the rocket's debut.
[...] The 20 February 2020 NASA press release regarding the KSC launch team's performance of Artemis 1 countdown and launch simulations was the first NASA release to publicly confirm SLS will not fly this year, noting "NASA is preparing for the first uncrewed flight test next year of the agency's powerful new rocket and spacecraft in development for the Artemis lunar exploration program."
The previous NASA-provided No Earlier Than (NET) November 2020 launch date of Artemis 1 was always viewed as political in nature and not an accurate reflection of the rocket's readiness.
See also: Cruz skeptical about prospects for NASA appropriations or other legislation
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