The moon-bound Artemis II mission hit another roadblock after testing revealed further issues with fueling up the rocket. NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said the problems are not surprising.
"Considering the issues observed during the lead-up to Artemis I, and the long duration between missions, we should not be surprised there are challenges entering the Artemis II campaign," Isaacman said in a lengthy post on X Saturday morning. "That does not excuse the situation, but we understand it. I am impressed with the NASA team and our contractors working diligently through the campaign."
Earlier this month, NASA conducted a dress rehearsal for a potential Artemis II launch in February. During that rehearsal, engineers found a liquid hydrogen leak in a piece of equipment used to put fuel into the primary rocket, prompting a potential launch date to be pushed back until at least March.
Since then, engineers replaced the seals they said were responsible for the leak. On Thursday, NASA conducted a "confidence test" to assess the feasibility of those seals, but "encountered an issue with ground support equipment that reduced the flow of liquid hydrogen into the rocket," according to a press release.
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A filter in the ground support equipment is suspected to be the cause of the reduced flow, NASA said, and crews replaced it, according to the agency. NASA made that announcement — and revealed the problems with testing — in a press release sent Friday evening.
Following criticisms for the issues and their late announcement, Isaacman said his office is "leaning forward with transparency, sharing the blemishes and the successes, because for a program as costly and important to national security as Artemis, the public is entitled to the facts."
I will just say we are leaning forward with transparency, sharing the blemishes and the successes, because for a program as costly and important to national security as Artemis, the public is entitled to the facts.
– The confidence test related to the seals we repaired and...
— NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman (@NASAAdmin) February 14, 2026
Isaacman noted that the replaced seals resulted in "materially lower leak rates" than during the dress rehearsal. He added that his office is "troubleshooting and will be redesigning" the propellant loading equipment that includes those seals. He also stated "near-conclusively" that Artemis III — which aims land humans on the moon, rather than simply flying humans to the moon and back — will undergo fuel testing while it's in NASA's vehicle assembly building, rather than at the launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
In another post, replying to criticism of the cost of redesigning pieces of the rocket, Isaacman stated "no needless requirement, policy, or regulation will stand in the way of progress."
"Succeeding sends a message to the world about what else we may be capable of accomplishing," he said. "Failing raises questions about what else might be broken, which is why NASA's mission carries direct national security implications."
On Monday, NASA announced its next dress rehearsal is set for a simulated launch on Thursday evening. A nearly 50-hour countdown will begin on Tuesday evening, at which point crews will simulate launch procedures up to 30 seconds before launch.
After engineers replaced the filter believed to have caused issues last week, NASA said the fueling test provided "enough data" to merit another dress rehearsal.
Following the dress rehearsal in February, the four astronauts flying on Artemis II were released from a quarantine in Houston. They are expected to return to quarantine about two weeks out from the next launch opportunity, which begins on March 6.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include additional information on a second wet dress rehearsal shared by NASA Monday afternoon.
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