NASA will delay the first manned test flight for the Orion spacecraft to April 2023 at the latest, nearly two years later than anticipated.
According to CBS News, NASA officials announced the decision Wednesday in a teleconference with reporters. NASA hopes the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) will one day take astronauts to deep space targets such as Mars.
"Our work to send humans out into the solar system is progressing," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a news release. "Orion is a key piece of the flexible architecture that will enable humanity to set foot on the Red Planet, and we are committed to building the spacecraft and other elements necessary to make this a reality."
NASA tested Orion with no one on board this past Dec., preparing it for Exploration Missions (EM) 1 and 2. EM 1 will be the "first fully integrated flight test," NASA said in its release. EM 2 will be the first manned test flight.
"Coming out of the review, (the launch target) was basically set to be no later than April of 2023 at a development cost, from October 2015 to the time we fly a crew for the first time, at $6.77 billion," CBS News quoted Robert Lightfoot, a NASA associate administrator, telling reporters in the teleconference. "This is consistent with the funding levels from the president's budget request. It's also consistent with our established practices to make sure we account for any potential technical risks that may manifest themselves, any of the uncertainties we may have related to the budget."
