In a report submitted to the United States Congress by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), concerns have arisen about NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket program, a pivotal component of the Artemis Moon program. The report sheds light on NASA’s lack of transparency regarding the costs associated with the SLS program.
What’s striking is that NASA officials themselves admitted that, at its current cost, the SLS program is deemed “unaffordable.” While NASA is taking steps to enhance affordability, it remains too early to gauge the effectiveness of these actions on future expenses.
The SLS program holds significant importance for NASA’s ambitions to return humanity to the Moon as part of the Artemis program. It has already been tested with the uncrewed Artemis 1 mission and is slated for use through at least Artemis 5.
Efforts are being made to improve the program’s cost-efficiency. NASA, in collaboration with its management, has outlined strategies aimed at achieving future cost savings. These strategies include stabilizing the rocket’s flight schedule, enhancing learning curve efficiencies, and adjusting acquisition strategies.
One major challenge lies in understanding the genuine costs of the program. The report reveals that the cost and schedule commitments of the original SLS rocket were linked to the launch of Artemis 1. This meant that ongoing production and other costs essential for the program’s sustainability were not tracked. Instead, NASA created a rolling 5-year estimate of production and operation costs to ensure they fit within the agency’s overall budget.
However, because neither the annual budget nor the estimate monitors costs by Artemis missions or for recurring production items, these estimates and budget requests are considered inadequate measures of cost performance over time by the GAO.
Furthermore, the estimates lack the flexibility to account for potential delays in the Artemis program. It is probable that the first crewed mission of the program, Artemis 2, may not launch before 2025, which would likely push Artemis 3 to 2026. This schedule deviation from the original plan complicates cost projections.
To mitigate these issues and reduce costs, NASA plans to stabilize the flight schedule for the SLS rocket during Artemis missions. Additionally, the agency is exploring changes to its contract acquisition strategies, aiming to shift from cost-plus award fee contracts to fixed-price contract types. This transition can help redistribute costs and risks from NASA to contractors.
Moreover, NASA is looking into cost reduction through economies of scale for mass-produced components and innovative manufacturing techniques.
It remains to be seen whether these efforts can effectively curtail costs. CNN reports that NASA has struggled with managing SLS program costs for years, with both the GAO and NASA’s Inspector General expressing concerns dating back to 2014.
The SLS program’s affordability and transparency challenges pose critical questions for NASA’s Artemis program and its broader ambitions in space exploration.