Review of United States Human Space Flight Plans Committee

The Ares V was the planned cargo launch component of the canceled NASA Constellation program, which was to have replaced the space shuttle after its retirement in 2011.

In May 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama established the Augustine Committee to take into account several objectives, including support for the International Space Station, development of missions beyond low Earth orbit, including the moon, Mars, and near-Earth objects, and use of the commercial space industry within defined budget limits.

The committee concluded that the Constellation program was massively underfunded and that a 2020 moon landing was impossible.

Constellation was subsequently suspended.