It’s time for the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s 10th annual “Quick Look” at the status of NASA’s major projects.
GAO found that many of these projects experienced significant cost and schedule growth over the past year.
“The average launch delay was 12 months—the most we’ve ever reported,” the GAO explains. “However, the extent of cost growth for the portfolio of projects is unknown because NASA doesn’t have a current cost estimate for the Orion crew vehicle, one of its most expensive projects.”
GAO says that NASA is likely to keep seeing cost and schedule growth in the future. Complex new projects are starting up, and other expensive projects are taking longer to launch than expected.
Major projects
This report includes assessments of NASA’s 26 major projects, each with a life-cycle cost of over $250 million. Project assessments include Europa Clipper, the James Webb Space Telescope, the Mars 2020 rover and the Space Launch System.
For a short fact sheet go to:
https://www.gao.gov/assets/700/691588.pdf
For the full GAO report, go to:
https://www.gao.gov/assets/700/691589.pdf
Also, give a listen to this watchdog podcast on the GAO report: