NASA: Space Shuttle Successor Early as 2013

A cloud of uncertainty, and promise, surrounds NASA after the aging shuttles retire

The current generation of NASA Space Transportation System shuttles have approximately 15-to-16 planned launches before retirement in 2010 with a next-generation U.S. space transport, dubbed Project Constellation, still early development.  While NASA originally planned to replace the STS by 2015, it appears that NASA researchers want the next shuttle to be ready before that.

"There is a two-thirds statistical likelihood of being successful in meeting that [2015] date, but our plan is much more aggressive than that," said NASA Constellation program manager Jeff Hanley in a press conference shortly after Space Shuttle Atlantis returned to space for the first time since September 2006.

The Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle will become the primary craft responsible for transporting astronauts and supplies to and from the International Space Station -- and NASA is the current top pick to help the nation return to the moon.  Lockheed Martin Corp. is now the main company responsible for designing and creating the space vehicle.