Artemis II launch live: Nasa astronauts minutes away from blasting off to Moon

We have lift off! Artemis II’s four-astronaut crew is on its way to the Moon.

Just 248,000 miles to go.

All final checks have been carried out and the Artemis II launch countdown is back underway.

“We are go for launch,” the launch director says.

The launch countdown is held at 10 minutes while final checks and confirmations are made.

One of the two batteries on the launch abort system was reportedly experiencing a “higher temperature than would be expected” due to an instrumentation failure, however Nasa has now said it will not impact the launch.

The batteries are situated in the tower above the Orion capsule, and they are responsible for pulling it clear from the rocket in the event of a problem with SLS.

It’s now just 10 minutes until the two-hour launch window opens.

Nasa has provided a handy graphic of the route the Artemis II crew will take in their flight around the Moon aboard the Orion spacecraft.

After lifting off from pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the SLS rocket will be jettisoned before Orion performs a high-altitude orbit of Earth.

Then begins the four-day outbound transit to the Moon, 250,000 miles away. After swinging by the Moon, Orion will return to Earth, eventually splashing down off the west coast of America.

Nasa has noted a battery issue, though adds that there’s still plenty of time for it to be resolved.

On the plus side, the weather has improved, with the probability of favourable launch conditions now up to 90 per cent.

There’s now less than an hour to go until the Artemis II launch.

While we wait, you can read all about this historic mission here.

The launch abort system hatch has been closed.

The crew hatch of the Orion spacecraft, which sits atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, is already closed.

The close out crew will now leave that room. The next big step is moving the crew access arm away from the rocket.

With just over an hour to go until launch, the issue with the flight termination system has been solved.

“The good news is, the range is go,” Nasa says.

All other systems are looking good, though there is still a minor chance that weather could impact the launch. The launch weather forecaster has kept his original prediction of being “80 per cent go”.