From Space.com

A NASA mission to two of the largest asteroids in the solar system being readied for liftoff next year has been placed in “stand down” mode.

The ion-engine propelled Dawn mission is dedicated to investigating the two most massive asteroids known: Vesta and Ceres. These two “baby planets” are very different from each other yet both offer tantalizing clues about the formation of the solar system. Dawn is designed to improve scientific understanding of how planets formed during the earliest epoch of the solar system.

Dawn has been on NASA’s books for liftoff in mid-June 2006.

The decision to stand down, according to SPACE.com sources, appears related to budget-related measures and workforce cutbacks at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.

Sure hope this is just a minor setback. Hard to conceive that this mission would be abandoned with the launch on schedule and just around the corner.