NASA officials told the inspector general that they did not believe the schedule slippage could be explained by a lack of adequate funding.
In response to a query from Ars, Boeing issued the following statement: “An unprecedented rocket program has inherent challenges; developing the first unit of a system that will safely carry humans into space, even more so. But the program described in the OIG’s report does not represent the Space Launch System program today.”
Implications of this
Another thrust of the report is that NASA has improperly awarded tens of millions of dollars to Boeing for performance fees the company has not earned. “We question nearly $64 million in award fees provided to Boeing since 2012 for the ‘very good’ and ‘excellent’ performance ratings it received while the SLS Program was experiencing substantial cost increases, technical issues, and schedule delays,” the report states.
In his response to the new report, NASA’s chief of human spaceflight, Bill Gerstenmaier, essentially shrugs off the criticism by saying building big rockets is hard work.
“The SLS is the largest launch system in the history of space flight,” Gerstenmaier’s response states. “The design, development, manufacturing, test, and operations of the system are highly complex and represent a national investment in a long-term commitment to deep space exploration.”
This may be true. But it seems an increasingly difficult sell after SpaceX developed the not-quite-as-large-or-complex Falcon Heavy rocket for $500 million. It is not clear what will happen next. In the past, Congress has largely ignored criticism of the SLS rocket, even from official sources. After all, the vehicle has 1,100 contractors in 43 states, covering a lot of legislative districts.
However, there are a few critics close to the White House who have been whispering concerns and criticisms about the big, expensive rocket to Vice President Mike Pence, who leads the National Space Council. To be clear, the vice president has been publicly supportive of the SLS rocket to date. But this report will at the very least add fuel to the fire of the criticisms he is hearing.