Artemis launch live updates: Artemis moon rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral

The launch follows a series of delays due to weather and mechanical issues.

ByMax Zahn, Mary Kekatos, Melissa Gaffney, Jon Haworth, and Kevin Shalvey
Last Updated: November 16, 2022, 8:15 PM EST

The Artemis I rocket launched early Wednesday morning, the latest attempt to send an unmanned capsule near the moon after a series of postponements due to weather and mechanical issues.

NASA pushed back a takeoff scheduled for Monday after Hurricane Nicole made landfall about 85 miles south of Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The launch marks the first step in an ambitious plan to establish a long-term presence on the moon for scientific discovery and economic development. Eventually, the Artemis expedition could lead to the first crewed space trip to Mars, according to NASA.

NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft attached rests on launch pad 39B as final preparations are made for the Artemis I mission at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Nov. 15, 2022, in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Key events:

Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Nov 15, 2022, 9:02 PM EST

Artemis mission aims to send astronauts to the moon

The Artemis launch on Wednesday kicks off a yearslong expedition that aims to put astronauts on the moon and enable a future trip to Mars.

The Artemis expedition includes four missions, each of which will cost roughly $4.1 billion. In all, the project will cost up to $93 billion by 2025, according to an audit from the NASA Office of the Inspector General.

If Artemis I is successful, Artemis II will take four astronauts near the moon in 2024. After that, Artemis III will take a crewed spacecraft for a moon landing. Finally, Artemis IV will fly to a space station near the moon.

Over the course of the Artemis missions, NASA plans to eventually send the first female astronaut and the first astronaut of color to the moon.

Nov 15, 2022, 9:01 PM EST

Artemis mission has suffered months of delays

The Artemis mission has suffered a series of setbacks since an original launch date in late August that was expected to feature Vice President Kamala Harris in attendance among about 100,000 spectators.

NASA called off that initial takeoff, set for Aug. 29, after a defective sensor prevented one of the rocket's engines from cooling down to a temperature required before ignition.

Days later, a second launch attempt on Sept. 3 was scrubbed after the space agency identified a liquid hydrogen leak.

A third planned launch attempt, on Sept. 27, faced postponement due to Hurricane Ian. The rocket was moved off the launchpad to protect it, as Ian wrought destruction along its path northward from Florida to the Carolinas.

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