 The Ares I was going to be NASA's manned spacecraft after STS, with Congress attempting to accelerate its development so it would be ready as early as 2016 for the ISS, in addition they attempted to delay retirement of the shuttle to reduce the time gap.However, Ares I was cancelled along with the rest of Constellation in 2010.The successor to STS with the cancellation would be combination of yet-to-be developed commercial crew spacecraft and the Orion plus the SLS

Following the Space Shuttle "Columbia" disaster, in early 2003 President George W. Bush, announced his Vision for Space Exploration which called for the completion of the American portion of the International Space Station by 2010 (due to delays this would not happen until 2011), the retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet following its completion, to return to the moon by 2020 and one day to Mars.