INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The shuttle main engines were designed in the 1970s, ahead of the first shuttle launch in 1981
In the 1990s and 2000s, NASA built a new series of upgraded engines with higher thrust and improved reliability, but the engines used much
the same architecture as the prior generation.While the RS-25 engines are undeniably old, they remain among the highest-performing and most
reliable US rocket engines
The engines were reusable when they flew on the Space Shuttle
Now, on the Space Launch System, NASA will discard the engines on each mission.This means NASA must purchase more RS-25 engines from
The watchdog projected that each SLS rocket flying with brand-new RS-25 engines will cost $2.5 billion.Put simply, these high costs will
hamstring any attempt to create an enduring campaign of deep space exploration, the inspector general wrote in 2023
"Given the enormous costs of the Artemis campaign, failure to achieve substantial savings will significantly hinder the sustainability of
this year in preparation for test-firings to prove it is ready to launch on the fifth Space Launch System rocket
That assumes it ever flies.The Trump administration is considering canceling the SLS program in favor of less expensive commercial rockets,
favoring a pivot toward human missions to Mars
If the White House does propose cancellation, and Congress agrees, a natural point to terminate the SLS program could be after the Artemis
III flight, slated to be NASA's first lunar landing mission since Apollo.This would also end the SLS program before the debut of a larger
This alone is estimated to cost $5.7 billion to develop, NASA's inspector general reported.
