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, 2:21 AM 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 16, 2022, 2:21 AM EST

Artemis launches, in photos

Spectators watch as the Artemis I unmanned lunar rocket lifts off from launch pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Nov. 16, 2022.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
In this handout image provided by NASA on Nov. 16, 2022, the Artemis I unmanned lunar rocket lifts off from launch pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Bill Ingalls/NASA/AFP via Getty Images
Artemis I unmanned lunar rocket lifts off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Nov. 16, 2022.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
A time exposure shows the path of the Artemis I unmanned lunar rocket as it lifts off from launch pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Nov. 16, 2022.
Gregg Newton/AFP via Getty Images
The Artemis I unmanned lunar rocket lifts off from launch pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Nov. 16, 2022.
Gregg Newton/AFP via Getty Images

Nov 16, 2022, 1:50 AM EST

Artemis moon rocket launches from Cape Canaveral

The unmanned mission is headed back to the moon after liftoff was achieved at 1:47am ET.

Nov 16, 2022, 1:43 AM EST

Artemis cleared for 1:47 a.m. launch

NASA conducted a “Go-No Go Poll” resulting in a “GO” for launch in 10 minutes, at 1:47 a.m. ET.

-ABC News’ Gio Benitez

Nov 16, 2022, 12:03 AM EST

Technicians need to replace ethernet cable

NASA said the "red crew" team has fixed the hydrogen leak problem.

However, a radar on the range is not operational until technicians replace an ethernet cable, which NASA says will take about an hour.

The launch window opens at 1:04 a.m. and runs until 3:04 a.m.

-ABC News' Gina Sunseri

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