The US Government Accountability Office, which was tasked with analyzing how efficiently the taxes paid by the public were spent a while ago, revealed the costs of NASA and the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket in its new report. The report actually admits what everyone knows: NASA’s SLS program is unsustainable at these costs.NASA’s Moon program is on shaky ground
The new report published focuses on the billions of dollars spent by NASA to develop the giant rocket, which made a successful first launch with the Artemis I mission in late 2022. Surprisingly, NASA officials admit in the report that the rocket was too expensive to support lunar exploration efforts as part of the Artemis program. “Senior NASA officials said the SLS program is unsustainable at current cost levels,” the report says.
The report also highlights that NASA does not have a clear spending plan, including the SLS rocket and its development. The costs are therefore both unsustainable and uncertain. According to reports a few months ago, NASA’s spending on the Artemis Lunar Program is expected to reach $93 billion by 2025, including $23.8 billion spent on the SLS system by 2022.Additionally, apparently another problem with NASA’s cost estimates is that delays to the Artemis missions were not taken into account. Based on the latest information, it seems likely that the Artemis II mission, planned to be a crewed flight around the Moon, will not be launched before 2025. Similarly, it is stated that Artemis III, a fully crewed Moon landing mission, will extend to at least 2026 or even beyond. On the other hand, NASA says that SLS costs and Artemis missions will not affect each other.
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