Delays and additional costs of the next rocket NASA worsen

The US government's independent auditor criticized the US space agency on Wednesday for letting the cost of its next mega-rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), built by Boeing, slip by nearly 30 percent.

The audit confirms the delay by the program and implies that the goal set by the administration of Donald Trump to bring American astronauts on lunar soil in 2024, a program called Artemis, becomes increasingly unlikely.

Originally, the first flight of the SLS rocket was scheduled to take place in November 2018, but NASA had already postponed this flight to June 2020. A deadline that the agency admitted recently that it could probably not to hold, without, however, giving a new date.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) writes in a report to Congress that "the first launch could only take place in June 2021", if all the risks currently weighing on the calendar materialize.

The report estimates the budget overrun at 29 percent, for a total cost of $ 8 billion to build the first rocket, up from $ 6.2 billion originally planned. This does not include money spent on subsequent missions, each rocket being single-use.

Added to this is the cost of the Orion capsule, which will be fixed at the top of SLS and will transport the astronauts.

"The publication of costs by NASA for the SLS and Orion programs is not completely transparent," denounce the public auditors.

They point to Boeing, the aerospace giant responsible in particular for building the main stage of the rocket.

"Boeing underestimated the number of people needed to build the main floor in the time available," they write, adding that, according to NASA, Boeing had sought to downplay the number of technicians for cost reasons.

Boeing initially had 100 people for this task. The manufacturer has since badigned 250 technicians to the site. But time was lost as new recruits were not space specialists, according to the report.

ico / sdu