NASA's first space shuttle mission this year will be in June

Washington DC, USA: US space agency NASA has said that its first space mission this year would likely take place in June with the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis.

The launch of Atlantis has been delayed by around three months with NASA technicians still working hard on fixing its hail-damaged fuel tank.

Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for space operations, speaking on the progress of the Shuttle repairs said, "We don't see any showstoppers in front of us … but there is still a lot of work to be done."

The space agency had originally planned to have four shuttle missions this year, but it now seems that the agency will be able to meet its goals.