Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

NASA’s Space Launch System.
Credit: NASA

Another look at the delayed NASA Space Launch System was posted on the NASA Office of Inspector General (OIG) Internet today: March 10, 2020.

The OIG reports:

“NASA continues to struggle managing SLS Program costs and schedule as the launch date for the first integrated SLS/Orion mission slips further. Rising costs and delays can be attributed to challenges with program management, technical issues, and contractor performance. For example, the structure of the SLS contracts limits visibility into contract costs and prevents NASA from determining precise costs per element. Specifically, rather than using separate contract line item numbers (CLIN) for each element’s contract deliverables, each of the contracts have used a single CLIN to track all deliverables making it difficult for the Agency to determine if the contractor is meeting cost and schedule commitments for each deliverable. Moreover, as NASA and the contractors attempt to accelerate the production of the SLS Core Stages to meet aggressive timelines, they must also address concerns about shortcomings in quality control.”

Overall, by the end of fiscal year 2020, NASA will have spent more than $17 billion on the SLS Program—including almost $6 billion not tracked or reported as part of the Agency Baseline Commitment (ABC), the OIG report notes.

To view the entire report — NASA’s Management of Space Launch System Program Costs and Contracts — go to:

https://oig.nasa.gov/docs/IG-20-012.pdf