NASA plan to take people into space in 2015. The launch of the upcoming Orion shuttle will be powered by the Ares I rocket; both are components of the space giant’s upcoming Constellation Program. The project was originally due to complete and launch in 2013, but after a series of unexpected set backs (what set backs are not unexpected?) a new date of 2015 has been recently announced. Bad news for anyone wanting to see the Ares rocket power into the skies, but ultimately good news for the crew of the Orion shuttle: NASA are at least taking security as a priority over good press exposure and timely launches which has not always been the case.

Progress is ongoing, though: a team of some 1100 experts have recently completely a hideously thorough design review on the Ares rocket, and it seems to have largely gone okay. Ares is not out of the trees yet, though, and there are still to be a vast number of reviews to be undergone and technical challenges to be met before anyone will think about starting to fabricate parts.

These are exciting times for any fans of space travel and NASA. The next few years will be critical to the success or failure of Ares and the Constellation Program.