US space agency NASA says it will postpone its first moon landing mission since the Apollo program by nearly a year to mid-2027.

NASA made the announcement on Thursday at a news conference. The Artemis III mission had been scheduled for September 2026. It would be the first human moon landing in more than half a century.

The agency said it will also postpone the implementation of Artemis II, aimed at sending crewed spacecraft to travel around the moon, for about seven months to April 2026.

It says the change partly reflects the time needed to address life support systems for astronauts.

The announcement comes after US President-elect Donald Trump named a IT firm founder as the next head of NASA in his incoming administration.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said, "I think we are handing to the new administration a safe and reliable way forward for us, which is to go back to the moon, to get there before China."

Artemis is an international lunar exploration program. Japan has promised to bear the cost of developing a lunar rover, while NASA has offered Japanese astronauts opportunities to set foot on the lunar surface.