The first human to set foot on the moon since Apollo will have to wait until 2026 at the earliest. Space.com reported that Nasa Inspector General Paul Martin delivered the news to lawmakers during a House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee hearing on 1 March.

Nasa is still officially targeting 2025, itself a slip from the Trump-era target of 2024, but the Inspector General is sceptical.

“Given the time needed to develop and test the human landing system and NASA’s next generation spacesuits, we estimate the date for a crewed lunar landing likely will slip to 2026 at the earliest,” Martin said.

Technical challenges and rising costs have also been a concern, however an uncrewed preliminary mission to orbit the moon is expected to launch in 2022. However, owing to the complexity of the programme, it is only possible to report that it will not be before May.