NASA’s plan to launch its new space shuttle replacement have have hit a snag, and now the Orion crew-carrier won’t be launching until 2014.

At the centre of the delay are rising concerns over costs. NASA’s still constructing the International Space Station (ISS) but reckons it’ll have finished the job by 2010, freeing up the budget for the Orion project.

Although a deadline of 2015 had been set, NASA hoped this could be sped up to 2013, but that’s no longer the case.

“September 2014 is when we are saying we will launch the first crew on the Orion,” programme manager Jeff Hanley said.

Besides cost there were also concerns over planned safety features not being up to scratch. The Orlando Sentinel, a 143 page annual report blasted the design of Orion’s crew capsule with concerns it might not be safe enough.

(Via The Register)