WASHINGTON: NASA is pushing back a space shuttle Atlantis mission to the International Space Station by four days to November 16 so that it can test an experimental rocket, the US space agency said.

The date was to be officially confirmed by mission administrators yesterday during a meeting to evaluate preparations for the Atlantis mission.

The decision to push back the launch is intended to "optimize the agency's ability to launch both Ares I-X and Atlantis before the end of the year," NASA said in a statement.