ARTEMIS I LAUNCH, Aug 29, 2022, KSC, 8:33 am ET

Update, August 19: NASA continues to target August 29 as the No Earlier Than date for the Artemis I test launch of the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft. NASA will hold a number of pre-launch briefings beginning August 22. See our separate entries for details. The full list also is in the NASA press release. All will air on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.

If launch is on August 29, NASA TV coverage will begin at midnight with commentary on tanking operations to load propellant into the SLS rocket. Full coverage will begin at 6:30 am ET in English and continue through translunar injection and spacecraft separation.  It will begin at 7:30 am ET in Spanish on NASA’s Spanish-language social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube) and continue until 15 minutes after liftoff.

A post-launch press conference will take place at approximately 12:00 pm ET (see our separate entry). Additional coverage will occur at 4:00 pm ET of Orion’s first outbound trajectory burn and at 5:30 pm ET of the first views of Earth from Orion.

The launch window is open for two hours (8:33 – 10:33 am ET) so the timing of the post-launch events may change depending on the exact time of liftoff.

Original Entry: NASA is targeting three days at the end of August and early September for the first launch of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft — the Artemis I mission.  It is an uncrewed test flight around the Moon.

NASA officials stress that the dates — August 29, September 2, and September 5 — are “placeholders” and they still have a lot of work to do to get ready so could change.

The launch times and mission durations for launch on one of those three days are:

• On August 29, the 2 hour launch window opens at 8:33 am EDT and landing would be 42 days later on October 10.
• On September 2, the 2 hour launch window opens at 12:48 pm EDT and landing would be 39 days later on October 11.
• On September 5, the 1.5 hour launch window opens at 5:12 pm EDT and landing would be 42 days later on October 17.