According to the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) document, the current level of spending on the SLS launch vehicle program makes it unaffordable for the country and the space agency (NASA). writes about it RIA News.
The SLS program is designed to put the American Orion spacecraft into orbit for missions to the moon. NASA officials told GAO that with current costs, the SLS program had become out of reach.
The agency has developed a program implementation plan that includes cost-saving strategies for future assignments. The lack of control over production costs makes it difficult for the space agency and Congress to keep them transparent and in control.
NASA has requested $11.2 billion to fund the program through 2028. The Artemis moon program was announced by the US during the Trump administration and flights to the moon were planned for 2024, but after the arrival of the Biden administration, the dates were set to 2025.
The first Artemis-1 mission took place in November 2022, and the Artemis-3 mission to land astronauts on the Moon was announced for 2025 but could be delayed until 2026.
Previously on Roscosmos declarationWe must not “give up” after the failure of the Luna-25 mission.