NASA has successfully tested engines on a Boeing built rocket for the upcoming Artemis series of moon missions.

The Artemis program aims to land the first woman and the first man in 49 years on the moon by 2024, more specifically the lunar south pole.

NASA ignited the four RS-25 engines of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi while it was still anchored to a tower.

The rocket’s engines lasted for eight minutes and 19 seconds, a significant improvement on a previous January test, which ended after one minute.

The resulting cloud from the launch was so large, it could be seen from space by Nasa’s Goes-16 satellite.

NASA engineers need to analyse the data and determine if the stage is ready to be delivered to Kennedy Space Center in Florida for integration with Lockheed Martin’s Orion spacecraft.

The SLS program is currently three years behind schedule and $3 billion over budget.

The news comes after Boeing lost the bid to SpaceX for its Starliner crew capsule to transport US astronauts to the International Space Station.

"The SLS (Space Launch System) is the most powerful rocket NASA has ever built, and during today's test the core stage of the rocket generated more than 1.6 million pounds of thrust within seven seconds,” said Steve Jurczyk NASA's acting administrator. "The SLS is an incredible feat of engineering and the only rocket capable of powering America's next-generation missions that will place the first woman and the next man on the moon.”

He added: "Today's successful hot fire test of the core stage for the SLS is an important milestone in NASA's goal to return humans to the lunar surface - and beyond."

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