According to a blog post published by NASA on Monday, the agency is now aiming for a September 27 launch date for its unmanned Artemis 1 mission to the Moon.
Engineering teams would need to successfully complete a test to fuel the Space Launch System rocket and obtain a waiver to avoid having to retest the batteries
on an emergency flight system that would be used to destroy the rocket if it deviated from its intended path before the date could be set.
The timeframe would be advanced by several weeks if the rocket had to be wheeled back to its assembly facility because it would not be granted the waiver.
On September 27, a "70-minute launch window opens at 11:37 am EDT," and on November 5, the mission would come to a close with the Orion capsule splashing down in the ocean.
In preparation for upcoming lunar missions with humans aboard, the Artemis 1 space mission aims to test the SLS and the unmanned Orion spacecraft.