The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket under construction to return the first astronauts to the moon in more than half a century is in a dangerous state. Eric Berger, the senior space reporter at Arztechnika website, announced on Wednesday in a post on the X social network, citing his sources, that the possibility of canceling the construction of the large NASA rocket is 55/5.
Referring to the version of SLS used in the Artemis 1 test flight and the more powerful version of this rocket with the capacity to inject more cargo into the lunar path, Berger said: “Not the Block 1B version, nor the Block 2B version, but the entire rocket” is at risk of stopping construction. .
Berger noted that we still have a long way to go before the status of the Space Launch System is finalized. However, this reporter’s sources have been very confident in the past, suggesting that the US space agency is apparently having doubts about continuing to invest billions of dollars in its disposable rocket.
“We still have a long way to go until the status of the Space Launch System is confirmed”
So far, the Space Launch System has faced budget overruns and long delays. NASA’s inspector general warned last year that plans to return to the moon could be in jeopardy if the cost of building the rocket is not controlled. The rocket is currently facing a budget overrun of more than 6 billion dollars and is more than half a decade behind schedule.
According to Erez Technica, former NASA administrator Michael Griffin told the US House of Representatives’ Space and Aeronautics subcommittee at a January hearing on the Artemis program: “I’ll be clear; “In my opinion, the Artemis program is over-complicated, unrealistically expensive, jeopardizes the safety of the crew, carries too much risk and, even if successful, is highly unlikely to be completed on time.”
The Space Launch System flew just once in 2022, after numerous delays, on the first mission of the Artemis program. Although that mission was successful, the damage to the Orion spacecraft’s heat shield during its two re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere was more than expected, and to this day, NASA is still investigating to fix the problem of this space capsule. Orain’s unpreparedness caused the Artemis 2 mission to be significantly delayed.
According to the August report of NASA’s Inspector General, even the cost of building the tower designed to launch the Space Launch System rocket from the Artemis 4 mission onward has reached a staggering $1.8 billion. According to that report, Boeing, the contractor responsible for building the rocket, is also facing a host of problems, from budget overruns, multiple delays and an unqualified workforce.
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The single-use nature of the Space Launch System means that NASA must build a completely new version of the rocket for each future Artemis mission; While the SpaceX starship is fully reusable and will be reused at a much lower cost. NASA hopes to use the Starship to bring its astronauts to the surface of the Moon on the Artemis 3 mission.
Berger suggests that if NASA does indeed abandon the Space Launch System, it could launch the Orion spacecraft atop a rocket such as SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy and then attach it to the upper stage of a previously launched rocket such as the Vulcan Centauri to provide the thrust needed to send the capsule. To be supplied to the month.
In a post on X, possibly referring to the incoming Trump administration, Berger said: “The people who will ultimately make such a big decision are not yet in office; “But there is a great desire for big changes.”
