NASA and United Launch Alliance have pushed the first launch attempt of the Mars rover, called Perseverance to July 30th due to a problem with the rocket that has been supposed to send the spacecraft to Mars.

NASA said that, “Due to launch vehicle processing delays in preparation for spacecraft mate operations, NASA and United Launch Alliance have moved the first launch attempt of the Mars 2020 mission to no earlier than July 30. A liquid oxygen sensor line presented off-nominal data during the Wet Dress Rehearsal, and additional time is needed for the team to inspect and evaluate.”

On July 17th, the Mars 2020 mission was originally scheduled to launch, with the opening of an interplanetary launch period extending over few weeks. But the launch date has been postponed due to several problems. NASA must vault off Earth's Mars 2020 mission on a trajectory towards the red planet. For every two years, NASA and other space agencies have an opportunity to send spacecraft to the red planet, when Mars comes nearer to Earth on its orbit around the Sun. Due to some problems, NASA has delayed the launch a few times before to July 20th and then to July 22nd. If NASA misses the chance to launch Mars rover, Perserverance this time, then it would have to wait until 2022. Here is the video of 'Getting NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover to launch during the COVID-19 pandemic.'

NASA blames the delay for an issue that sprang up in Perseverance, an Atlas V rocket manufactured and operated by the United Launch Alliance. On June 22nd, the company had conducted a dress rehearsal of the rocket by filling it up with propellant and running through all the procedures to practice for the actual launch. During the trial run, a few sensors that monitor the level of liquid oxygen propellant in the vehicle displayed bad results. So, the team of the United Launch Alliance is trying to fix the problem as soon as possible.