Will the Space Launch System (SLS) be the last launcher developed by NASA in history? That’s what some people seem to think internally… In question, far too high costs as well as numerous delays.
Yet another delay… one too many?
The SLS is, for the time being, the most powerful rocket ever built. Its objective is to transport astronauts, who will be on board the Orion capsule, installed at the top of the launcher, to lunar orbit around 2025 (this date is very likely to change). It is therefore a major element of the Artemis program which, in addition to bringing humans back to the Moon, plans to build a permanent base there for future manned flights to Mars.
Here is the first image of the supermassive black hole housed at the center of our galaxy
Commissioned twelve years ago by the US Congress, the SLS was to carry out its first mission, consisting of propelling Orion into lunar orbit, this May, but this one should not finally occur before August at the most. early. Indeed, the rocket was installed on its launch pad last March so that NASA teams could carry out a battery of tests as well as a dress rehearsal before launch, but not everything went as planned. The rocket encountered some technical problems which prompted the space agency to bring it back to its assembly building.
The next tests are scheduled for early June, and it is not guaranteed that they will be conclusive.
SLS costs NASA an astronomical sum
Of course, such delays are common in the space field, but it must also be taken into account that now private companies are also able to build rockets at lower costs and above all, faster. The most striking example is of course SpaceX, which carries out launches at an unprecedented frequency and is now the means of transport for American astronauts to get to the ISS thanks to a contract with NASA.
The company’s success is due in particular to the reusability of its Falcon 9 launcher, which drastically reduces launch costs. Produced in partnership with Boeing and Northrop Grumman, the SLS cost NASA an estimated $22.3 billion. Furthermore, the first four SLS missions are each expected to cost more than $4 billion to execute, a sum described as ” unsustainable by Paul Martin, NASA Inspector General.
To these costs are also added those of the Orion capsule, also operated by NASA, which amount to several billion dollars.
SpaceX’s Starship is the lander of the Artemis program. Image: SpaceX
Starship rather than the SLS?
Now the wall street journal reports that some former space agency officials, as well as industry, say such rocket projects are becoming less feasible, due to SLS project delays and rising costs. According to them, it would be wiser to entrust this mission to private companies like SpaceX. “ The launch industry is at a point where the technology is so mature that the US government may not need to invest in it. We may be at a tipping point with this rocket said Dan Goldin, a former NASA administrator.
While some remain optimistic, notably assuring that costs will fall in the future, particularly because elements of the Orion capsule are reusable, it is clear that perhaps less expensive alternatives are available to NASA. SpaceX is currently developing its own superheavy launch vehicle, Starship. The latter is also involved in the Artemis program since it should be responsible for transporting astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface of the Moon, thanks to a contract established at 2.9 billion dollars.
Unlike the SLS, Starship will be fully reusable… and therefore much cheaper. Nevertheless, the company has not yet operated an orbital flight of its prototype, so the SLS remains, at present, the only alternative to NASA… But for how long?