File photo shows Space Launch System (SLS), with the Orion crew capsule, stands at launch complex 39B as preprations continue for the Artemis 2 mission to the Moon at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral
| Photo Credit: Reuters
NASA on Thursday (February 19, 2026) said it successfully rehearsed the launch of its massive SLS rocket, which will send astronauts around the Moon for the first time in over 50 years.
Technical problems in early February cut short an earlier so-called wet dress rehearsal of the launch of the Artemis 2 mission.
But on Thursday (February 19, 2026), the U.S. space agency reported that things proceeded as planned, concluding at “T-29 seconds” in the countdown.
NASA is now expected to set a firm date for the mission. The agency said it would brief media on Friday (February 20, 2026).
The wet dress rehearsal is conducted under real conditions — with full rocket tanks and technical checks — at Cape Canaveral in Florida, with engineers practicing the maneuvers needed to carry out an actual launch.
The setback in February, which included a liquid hydrogen leak, dashed hopes of a lift-off this month, pushing the earliest possible launch date back to March 6.
The Artemis 2 mission will be the first crewed mission to fly past the Moon in more than 50 years, with three Americans and one Canadian taking part.
Published – February 20, 2026 09:59 am IST
