NASA’s SLS Spending Spree Could Jeopardize Its Return To The Moon: Report

Artemis: ready to burn more money.

We all know what it’s like when you undertake a new project, it always ends up taking longer than you expect and undoubtedly costs more than you predict. It’s the same if you’re a federally-funded space agency, as NASA is discovering with its wildly over-budget and wildly-delayed Space Launch System.

NASA’s new Space Launch System (SLS) is a big deal. It’s the rocket that’s going to take us back to the Moon and, one day, onwards to Mars. But, it’s a project that’s been hit with delays and spiraling costs. Now, a report by NASA Inspector General Paul Martin has uncovered just how out of control the project is becoming.

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According to Ars Technica, the SLS is now more than six years behind schedule and $6 billion over budget. It’s costing NASA so much to keep developing the system that Ars Technica reports that the out of control spending “could jeopardize plans to return to the Moon.”

In total, NASA is projected to spend $93 billion on the Artemis program between 2012 and 2025. Of that, $23.8 billion has been spent on the SLS, which has been developed from Space Shuttle tech that NASA is updating.

A few million up in smoke.

However, this means of creating the new rocket has brought all manner of headaches to the space agency. According to the report, NASA initially expected that using Space Shuttle components would “result in significant cost and schedule savings compared to developing new systems for the SLS.”