NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop the mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B on Aug. 29. Photo: NASA/Joel KowskyDavenport

NASA scrubbed the much-anticipated first flight of its Space Launch System rocket on Monday after a series of problems with the rocket and the fueling procedures could not be resolved quickly.

The space agency had been planning to launch the massive rocket and the Orion spacecraft, without any astronauts on board, on a trajectory toward the moon as part of its Artemis program. Now it will stand down and reassess problems with the complicated vehicle that has suffered delays and setbacks for years.