Video: Orion EFT 1 animation

The maiden flight of NASA’s Space Launch System, a heavy-lift human-rated rocket and one of the agency’s core programs, will likely not be ready for takeoff until 2020, officials said recently.

NASA announced Monday it will order at least six reusable Orion crew capsules from Lockheed Martin for $4.6 billion to fly astronauts to the vicinity of the moon in the 2020s, and the agency said it plans to purchase hardware for up to 12 Orion vehicles by 2030.

The three U.S. astronauts aboard the International Space Station said Monday they’re ready to sign up for a trip to the moon if NASA can meet the Trump administration’s newly stated goal of returning Americans to the lunar surface within the next five years.