Moonwatch: Nasa resumes work on lunar lander

Agency says human landing will not be possible until 2025 at the earliest after lawsuit delays project

Nasa has resumed work on the lunar lander needed to return humans to the moon. The space agency voluntarily paused work on the Human Landing System (HLS) for several months after a lawsuit over the spacecraft's development and manufacture.

In April, Nasa awarded the $2.9bn HLS contract solely to Elon Musk's SpaceX. The Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, whose Blue Origin company also bid for the work, sued Nasa in August because the space agency had originally stated it would award two lander contracts. Budget shortfall, however, forced it to renege on this.