Nasa’s Artemis Moon Missions Pushed Back

Nasa's crewed Artemis II and Artemis III missions to the Moon have each been delayed by a year.

The missions have been pushed back because the technology, such as suits and space craft used for parts of the journey, still isn't ready.

Artemis II was scheduled to launch later this year, but will now blast off in September 2025, at the earliest, and will involve a team of four astronautstravelling around the Moon and back again.

Artemis III, which plans to land Nasa astronauts on the Moon's surface for the first time in more than 50 years has been pushed back until 2026.

Announcing the delay, Bill Nelson from Nasa said safety was a big part of the decision, saying: "We won't fly until we're ready."

Nasa's Artemis programme which has seen several delays already is expected to cost at least $93 billion (£73 billion) and will send the first woman to the Moon's surface.

Its aims include studying parts of the Moon not previously visited, eventually using the missions to begin construction of a Moon base which will be used as a stepping stone for the first human journey to Mars.

The programme began with Artemis I which launched in 2022 and successfully tested the use of a giant Nasa rocket known as the Space Launch System - or SLS for short.