The cost of the American lunar program Artemis until 2025 will exceed $ 93 billion, RIA Novosti reports, citing NASA chief auditor Paul Martin.

According to him, the astronaut’s flight to the Moon will take place no earlier than 2026, which is explained, in particular, by delays in the manufacture of the lunar lander and spacesuits. Martin revealed that launching the first four Artemis missions would cost NASA $4 billion each.

In May, the head of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Bill Nelson, said that an unmanned flight of the Orion spacecraft around the moon as part of the Artemis program was scheduled for August.

In March, Martin, speaking before the House Science Committee, said that the first launch of the Space Launch System (SLS) super-heavy rocket and the Orion spacecraft would cost $4.1 billion.

As part of the Artemis 1 unmanned mission, the spacecraft is to fly around Earth’s natural satellite. Depending on the relative position of the Moon and Earth at the time of launch, the duration of the mission will be three to six weeks. Thus, NASA plans to test the readiness of the SLS and Orion for the Artemis 2 mission, which involves a spacecraft flying around the moon with four astronauts.