"We are basically complete in our planning for return to flight," Michael Kostelnick, deputy associate NASA administrator for the international space station and shuttle programs, said during a press conference.

"We are well on the way to completing our modification work on both vehicles that are contained in the return-to-flight planning and for the past month or so we have been aggressively processing both of the vehicles for launch this summer," he said.

Kostelnick said May 15 was a target date, but it could be adjusted according to the need of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration within a window of opportunity that extended to June 3.

"We have a mission to return the shuttle to flight as soon as possible," Kostelnick said. "But we have flexibility, no specific date when we must return" to the International Space Station.

NASA suspended shuttle missions after the Columbia shuttle disaster.

Columbia broke up as it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere on February 1, 2003, killing all seven crew. Following criticism of NASA procedures, the agency's three other shuttles have been grounded since.

NASA said in a report that it will not launch the shuttle Discovery unless it has a support spaceship, in this case Atlantis, ready to carry out potential rescues in space.

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