The mission was originally scheduled for November this year, but will be postponed to September 2025.
The US space agency announced an update on the schedule for the next mission around the moon on Tuesday. Due to a number of technical problems and to allow more preparation time, NASA decided to postpone.
The subsequent Artemis III mission, which will land astronauts on the moon for the first time in more than 50 years, has been postponed until at least September 2026.
The Canadian Hansen's first spaceflight, together with experienced NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, was intended to be the first manned flight of the Orion capsule and the first mission to the moon since the last Apollo mission in 1972.
In order to be able to carry out our upcoming work safely #Artemis For missions to the moon with astronauts, we are now targeting September 2025 for Artemis II and September 2026 for Artemis III.
Safety is our top priority. https://t.co/AjNjLo4U6E pic.twitter.com/VE74OtlUr6
— NASA (@NASA) January 9, 2024
The Artemis II mission involves a flyby of the moon, a looping maneuver around the far side of Earth's natural satellite before returning.
Another Canadian astronaut, Jenni Gibbons, was named a “backup” in November to replace Mr. Hansen if necessary.