Nasa scraps Tuesday’s scheduled Artemis 1 Moon launch as Storm Ian gathers strength

Nasa has called off the scheduled Tuesday launch of its historic unstaffed mission to the Moon due to a tropical storm that is forecast to strengthen as it approaches Florida.

After two previously cancelled launch attempts, Nasa is weighing returning the Artemis 1 mission rocket to its assembly site under the threat of extreme weather.

“Nasa is forgoing a launch opportunity … and preparing for rollback (from the launch pad), while continuing to watch the weather forecast associated with Tropical Storm Ian,” it said on Saturday.

The US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said Ian is due to “rapidly intensify” over the weekend as it moves towards Florida, home to the Kennedy Space Centre, from which the rocket is set to launch.

Currently south of Jamaica, the storm is expected to approach Florida’s west coast “at or near major hurricane strength” early next week, threatening storm surge, flooding and hurricane-force winds across much of the state, the NHC said.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Saturday declared a state of emergency for Florida as Ian gathered strength over the Caribbean.

DeSantis initially issued the emergency order for two dozen counties on Friday but has now expanded the warning to the entire state, encouraging residents and local governments to prepare for a storm that could lash large swathes of Florida.

“This storm has the potential to strengthen into a major hurricane and we encourage all Floridians to make their preparations,” DeSantis said in a statement. “We are coordinating with all state and local government partners to track potential impacts of this storm.”