Following an uncrewed test flight in February, the first piloted flight of NASA's Orion moonship and Space Launch System mega-rocket - Artemis 2 - is slipping from 2023 to no earlier than May 2024, NASA announced Tuesday. Artemis 3, the first piloted moon landing, is also being pushed back from 2024 to sometime in 2025.

Axar.az reports that NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told interviewers. "We expect Artemis 1 in February, in just a few months and Artemis 2 on or about May of '24. ... We are estimating no earlier than 2025 for Artemis 3."

As for Artemis 3, NASA needs a new moon lander to carry travellers from the Orion capsule down to the south polar region of the moon and back up to Orion. The mission will include the first woman and the first person of colour to visit the moon.

NASA awarded a $2.9 billion contract to SpaceX last April for the development of a Human Landing System, or HLS, based on the design of the company's Starship rocket system. But Blue Origin, a company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, challenged the award in court, halting work on the contract until the issue could be resolved.