Teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans move a liquid hydrogen tank for the agency’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket into the factory’s final assembly. Photo: Boeing / NASA
NASA and Boeing have taken a crucial step forward in prepping the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for Artemis III—the mission slated to return astronauts to the Moon—by completing thermal insulation on the core stage’s massive liquid hydrogen tank at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.
“There are better process controls in place than we’ve ever had before, and there are specialized production technicians who must have certifications to operate the system. It’s quite an accomplishment and a lot of pride in knowing that we’ve completed this step of the build process,” said Boeing’s Brian Jeansonne, the integrated product team senior leader for the thermal protection system at NASA Michoud.
The operation involved applying a specialized thermal protection system (TPS) to shield the tank from extreme temperatures. It’s essential work: the tank must keep liquid hydrogen chilled at minus 423°F and endure the searing heat of launch and ascent. Using a robotic system, NASA and Boeing crews sprayed on 107 feet of foam insulation in just under two hours—marking the largest such application in spaceflight history.
“The thermal protection system protects the SLS rocket from the heat of launch while also keeping the thousands of gallons of liquid propellant within the core stage’s tanks cold enough,” said Jay Bourgeois, thermal protection systems lead at NASA Michoud. “Without it, the propellant would boil off too quickly to sustain a successful launch.”
Artemis III builds on the upcoming Artemis II crewed test flight and will introduce new systems, including next-gen spacesuits and a lunar lander, as NASA targets a historic first—sending astronauts to explore the Moon’s South Pole. The mission is seen as a stepping stone to human exploration of Mars.
Artemis I on the launch pad.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Despite this progress, the future of the SLS program beyond Artemis III is murky. The rocket has faced repeated delays and ballooning costs—currently topping $2 billion per launch. As NASA pushes toward greater reliance on commercial launch systems like SpaceX’s Starship, some in the space policy community have questioned how long the SLS can remain viable.
Experts estimate there is a growing chance—around 30–50%—that Artemis III could be the SLS rocket’s final mission if commercial alternatives prove more reliable and cost-effective. Decisions about extending the SLS program may hinge on Artemis III’s performance and broader shifts in NASA’s strategy for deep space exploration.
For now, the agency is racing to meet Artemis III’s ambitious timeline, eyeing a late 2026 launch. Whether the SLS will be part of NASA’s long-term future—or a stepping stone soon left behind—remains to be seen.
Artemis II’s Core Stage moving into the VAB. If SLS is cancelled, the VAB is a building with no real purpose. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
It looks like hard times for the Space Coast’s local economy might be ahead.
The Administration’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget includes a 24.3% reduction in NASA’s funding, decreasing the agency’s budget from $24.8 billion to $18.8 billion. This so-called “skinny” budget blueprint is a high level one short of full details, which will be forthcoming. After that, Congress will take up and begin debate on a budget bill.
This proposed significant cut threatens to eliminate key programs and could result in substantial job losses at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC), a cornerstone of the Space Coast’s economy, and that will have ripple effects that everyone who lives here will feel.
Key Programs on the Chopping Block
The proposed budget aims to terminate NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion crew capsule after the Artemis III in 2027. SLS is currently integral to the Artemis initiative, which seeks to return humans to the Moon. The administration justifies these cuts by citing cost overruns and delays, noting that the SLS has cost approximately $23 billion since 2010 and about $4 billion per launch. In its place, commercial launch services will be employed, assuming they are ready to do so in two years time.
The policymakers and budget writers have a point: SLS is an incredibly expensive rocket years late and billions over budget before getting to the launch pad. If the program were to continue, SLS would continue to be very expensive, and for capabilities that commercial providers will match or exceed in the near term.
The first SLS rocket, Artemis I, sits on the launch pad at KSCs LC39B in 2022
In addition to the SLS and Orion, the budget proposes eliminating the Gateway lunar station and the Mars Sample Return mission. These cuts would not only affect NASA’s long-term exploration goals but also disrupt international collaborations with agencies from Europe, Canada, and Japan.
Again, policymakers have a point: these are expensive programs that are optional, and their elimination will result in cost savings to the federal budget.
Conventional wisdom in space circles is that SpaceX’s Starship program will replace SLS, and will rely on Kennedy as one of SpaceX’s primary launch sites for the giant rocket still under development in Texas. SpaceX has already resumed construction on a Starship launch mount at LC-39A, and has also begun building facilities here to support the giant rocket. With those expansions will come new jobs as well as opportunities for local businesses to provide support. Around 600 new SpaceX jobs are projected for the Starship effort.
Blue Origin, with its lunar lander and nascent New Glenn rocket, will also presumably benefit, leading to more growth on their massive campus across from the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center. The currently have around 237 openings posted for Merritt Island, that out of 484 positions listed nationally.
SpaceX and Blue Origin aren’t the only two large aerospace companies with major facilities in the region, of course, and as military and commercial space continues to grow, employment opportunities grows with it. The Space Coast also has a healthy startup culture, and many of those companies are on the cusp of expansion in their own right.
That will offset some of the job losses locally in the short term.
Impact on Kennedy Space Center and the Space Coast
In fiscal year 2023, NASA activities in Florida supported 35,685 jobs and contributed $8.2 billion in economic output. The proposed budget cuts threaten to drastically lower this economic contribution.
Kennedy Space Center is a major economic driver on the Space Coast, Terminating the SLS would directly impact thousands of workers involved in the project. NASA will undoubtedly trim jobs, as will Jacobs and Bechtel, who employ hundreds at the center. Moreover, the ripple effects could extend to local businesses and suppliers that rely on NASA contracts.
The Space Coast has been through this before: in the 1970s after the Apollo program was ended and after the Space Shuttle program flew its last flight in 2011. Home prices tumbled due to local oversupply, local businesses and restaurants shuttered thanks to a drop in the number of customers coming through their door.
Concerns For Local Leaders and Experts
A local resident who works for NASA at the Cape, but didn’t want to share their name said yesterday that, “This will be like it was in the 70s after Apollo and fifteen years ago after the Shuttle. Home values dropped, and some people just left and let the bank foreclose their homes. It was ugly.”
Indeed, the conclusion of NASA’s Space Shuttle program in 2011 marked a significant turning point for Brevard County’s economy. The retirement of the shuttle led to the loss of approximately 7,000 jobs at Kennedy Space Center alone, with estimates of up to 9,000 when including contractors and support staff.
This sudden unemployment surge pushed the county’s jobless rate to over 11%, far surpassing the state average at that time. Local businesses, from restaurants to retail stores, felt the ripple effects as disposable incomes dwindled. The housing market also suffered, with property values declining and foreclosures increasing. The economic downturn lingered for years until the rise of SpaceX, the arrival of Blue Origin and NASA’s Artemis Project.
Whether the cancelation of SLS affects the local economy as much as some fear remains to be seen. The Space Coast has diversified its economic base, but it is also still highly dependent on NASA and the military for its overall livelihood.
Titusville
Titusville, often called the “Gateway to Space,” bore the brunt of the Shuttle program’s end. The city’s economy, deeply intertwined with space exploration, faced significant challenges. Businesses shuttered and moved out, people moved away, and some say Titusville has never fully recovered.
Local schools saw decreased enrollment, home values plunged, and local tax revenues dropped precipitously, which, in turn, created issues that the city is dealing with to this day. Titusville has also grappled with an identity crisis, striving to redefine itself as being more than its space-centric legacy.
Efforts to attract new industries and promote tourism began after the Shuttle Era, but the transition has proven arduous and ongoing, especially given that tourism there is a harder sell than it is just twenty minutes down the road in Cocoa Beach. That’s because Titusville lost most of its beach access when the federal government seized Titusville Beach in the early 1960s to build the Kennedy Space Center in the first place. Payalinda Beach on the Cape Canaveral National Seashore is there, of course, but its location in a wildlife refuge has limited commercial growth.
On the industrial front, Titusville and the Space Coast region has a lot of what businesses look for: a business-friendly government, relatively low taxes, land available near multiple transportion options, and a skilled workforce that can fill jobs requiring technical skills.
The city is already seeing facility expansions and new factories being constructed; for example, Lockheed Martin is building a new facility that is expected to employ up to 300 people. Other major companies and facilities have come, some have gone belly up and others have stated plans to move here in the future.
Is America Really ‘Effectively Ceding Its Leadership In Space’?
Many industry experts have also expressed alarm over the proposed budget cuts, especially to NASA’s science budget. They argue that reducing NASA’s funding could have long-term detrimental effects on the nation’s space leadership and the economic well-being of communities like the Space Coast.
“The proposed cuts could plunge NASA into a dark age,” warns the Planetary Society, emphasizing the potential loss of scientific knowledge and international prestige.
“If enacted, these proposed cuts would demolish our space economy and workforce, threaten our national security and defense capabilities, and ultimately surrender the United States’ leadership in space, science, and technological innovation to our adversaries,” wrote the bipartisan co-chairs of the Congressional Planetary Science Caucus.
“We will work closely with our colleagues in Congress on a bipartisan basis to push back against these proposed cuts and program terminations and to ensure full and robust funding for NASA Science in Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations,” the statement concluded.
That statement may well be representative of the response the NASA budget will receive on Capitol Hill. NASA receives widespread support, and while calls to streamline NASA will probably get a lot of support, eliminating projects like the Nancy Grace Roman space telescope will receive strong pushback.
Next Steps
The budget proposal is subject to approval by Congress, where it is expected to face significant scrutiny and potential revisions. Lawmakers from both parties have historically supported NASA’s missions and may push back hard against the proposed cuts to preserve the agency’s programs and the jobs they support. That remains to be seen.
As the budget process unfolds, stakeholders from the Space Coast and beyond will closely monitor developments and advocate for the preservation of programs they say are vital to the nation’s space exploration efforts and economic health. Others from here will point out the necessity for more austerity in the federal budget and that NASA, like all federal agencies, will have to shrink their budgets to accomplish that goal.
Where the chips all land is certainly going to be something to watch, but one thing is clear: things will be changing.
SLS Solid Rocket Boosters inside Bay 3 of VAB on February 25, 2025 Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
NASA offered reporters and press photographers a rare chance to go inside the VAB today to view the progress of the assembly of Artemis II, the next and first crewed launch of the SLS rocket. That mission will carry four astronauts on a circumlunar flight and is currently slated to fly in April 2026.
Workers preparing Artemis II inside the VAB at Kennedy Space Center on February 25, 2025. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of TitusvilleThe Core Stage of SLS undergoing preparations inside the VAB on February 25, 2025 Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Currently, the Core Stage of Artemis II is in its own work area, across the aisle from where the Mobile Launch Platform with the Solid Rocket Boosters are sitting. Work continues on both parts of the vehicle.
Workers gathered around a Solid Rocket Booster slated for Artemis II on February 25, 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Status of Artemis II
As of now, NASA’s Artemis II mission is scheduled to launch no earlier than April 2026. The mission aims to send four astronauts—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen—on a 10-day journey around the Moon, marking the first crewed mission of the Artemis program and the first human venture beyond low Earth orbit since 1972.
The Core Stage of Artemis II in its work bay on February 25, 2025 Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
The mission has experienced several delays, primarily due to issues identified during the uncrewed Artemis I mission in November 2022. Post-flight analyses revealed unexpected charring on the Orion capsule’s heat shield, prompting extensive investigations and subsequent design modifications to ensure astronaut safety during re-entry. Seemingly resolved for the time being, the Orion capsule slated for Artemis II is undergoing preparations at Kennedy Space Center.
Artemis II’s Interstage awaits its turn to be assembled onto the SLS rocket. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
The Solid Rocket Boosters have completed their stacking operations and engineers will integrate the SLS core stage, currently undergoing processing in the VAB’s High Bay 2, in the coming weeks. No specific timetable for the start and completion of that operation has been given.
Space Available: the area where the Core Stage will be moved into and mounted to the Solid Rocket Boosters is clearly visible on February 25, 2025 Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of TitusvilleTwo of the emergency escape baskets were inside the VAB on February 25, 2025. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of TitusvilleUpper portion of High Bay 3 in the VAB Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
According to iSpace yesterday, “RESILIENCE is now on a trajectory out to deep space before completing orbital maneuvers that will bring it back towards the Moon in advance of lunar orbit insertion, expected around early May.”
Falcon 9, carrying the iSpace RESILIENCE lander along with Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander, launching in January 2025. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
RESLIENCE reached its closest point to the lunar surface thus far at 5:43 PM EST (2243 UTC) on Valenitine’s Day, coming within roughly 8,400 kilometers surface on its flyby, a historic first of its type for a Japanese private, commercial lunar lander. It now heads past the moon towards apoapsis and a return to cislunar space and lunar orbit. After that point, preparations for landing can begin.
The flyby was the fifth of ten major milestones for the spacecraft as it prepares to touch down on the lunar surface sometime in May or June of this year. The lengthy time between launch and landing is due to mission designers planning for a longer, energy-efficient trajectory to reach the lunar surface, one that reduced spacecraft complexity by eliminating the need to carry a much larger propulsive unit.
via iSpace
This will be the second landing attempt for iSpace. In April 2023, the first Hakuto lander successfully traveled from Earth and made a landing attempt, however, it crash-landed after its propellant was exhausted due to the spacecraft’s software misjudging the actual altitude of the spacecraft. After improvements and remediations, iSpace is hopeful for a successful landing in late Spring of this year.
Hakuto-R / RESILIENCE Mission Is Primarily A Technology Demonstration
iSpace’s mission with RESILIENCE in mainly one for technology performance and validation, demonstration commercial viability, and international collaboration and coordination. Undoubtedly, the iSpace team will learn a great deal more about real-world operation of their lander in Mission 2, and that in turn will inform future missions to come.
One of the primary goals — if not the major goal — of the RESILIENCE mission is to demonstrate lunar landing capabilities. Secondly, iSpace hope to demonstrate landing with a high level of precision. The company has refined its autonomous landing system with lessons-learned from Mission 1. Their system leverages AI and real-time terrain recognition as part of a safe touchdown on the surface. Perfecting this technology is crucial for future robotic and crewed missions.
Artist’s rendering of Hakuto-R RESILIENCE on the lunar surface. Courtesy iSpace.
Testing of Lunar Surface Mobility and Resource Utilization
RESILIENCE plans to deploy small rovers and payloads to test surface mobility and in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) technologies. By analyzing the Moon’s regolith and extracting potential resources such as water ice, iSpace hopes to contribute to future lunar sustainability. ISRU is a key aspect of NASA’s Artemis program and other international lunar initiatives, as it could enable long-term human presence on the Moon.
Lunar Data Collection
By gathering environmental and geological data, the RESILIENCE probe will help improve scientific understanding of the Moon’s surface conditions. The mission will assess factors such as temperature variations, radiation levels, and dust behavior—all critical information for designing next-generation lunar habitats and infrastructure.
Supporting Commercial Lunar Activity
iSpace is focused on building a lunar economy, and RESILIENCE will serve as a proof-of-concept for future commercial deliveries to the Moon.
iSpace also plans to become a key player in the emerging lunar industry through collaborations with global space agencies and companies. The company is hopeful that the success of RESILIENCE could pave the way for future joint ventures and technological exchanges in lunar exploration.
Jared Isaacman with his children in a 2024 Polaris Dawn publicity photo. Credit: John Kraus, Polaris Program
Jared Isaacman, the billionaire entrepreneur, philanthropist, and private astronaut, has been nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as the next Administrator of NASA. Isaacman, best known to the general public as the commander of both the groundbreaking Inspiration4 and Polaris Dawn space missions and the first private citizen to conduct a spacewalk, is also the CEO of the payment processing giant Shift4, a rapidly growing company that Isaacman started when he was sixteen years old.
President-elect Donald Trump’s announcement of the Isaacman nomination on Truth Social
Isaacman Reaction To The Nomination
“The future of space exploration depends on collaboration between government agencies, private companies, and international partners,” Isaacman said in a statement following the announcement of his nomination. “If confirmed, I’ll work tirelessly to ensure NASA remains at the forefront of innovation and exploration.”
Isaacman Qualifications, In Brief
Jared Isaacman exiting Crew Dragon on the Polaris Dawn flight in September of 2024. Photo: SpaceX livestream
If confirmed, Jared Isaacman would be the only NASA Administrator to have commanded a space mission and to have flown to space twice. He would also be the only NASA Administrator who has future flights in planning stages — there are three more Polaris missions slated to fly, though potential launch dates have not been released by the program.
Isaacman is also well qualified to lead the “second A” in NASA, that is, the Aeronautic side. As an aviator, Isaacman holds multiple world records for flight, including a record-breaking circumnavigation of the globe in a light jet. In 2019, Isaacman purchased a Soviet-era Mikoyan MiG-29 fighter jet from the estate of Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, a plane he regularly flies himself.
The nomination will now need to be confirmed by the US Senate after it is sworn in and convenes in January 2025.
Polaris Dawn launch, with NASA Administrator nominee Jared Isaacman in command. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
The Mission 2 RESILIENCE lander arrives at KSC. Photo via ispace
Japan’s latest lunar lander and rover has arrived at Kennedy Space Center, where it will enter final preparations for a launch scheduled for no earlier than January 2025 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9. Officially named the Mission 2 RESILIENCE lunar lander, the spacecraft will be carrying the TENACIOUS micro rover and commercial payloads for iSpace.
“The Mission 2 RESILIENCE lander is the culmination of the HAKUTO-R program, incorporating the data and know-how gained from Mission 1,” said Takeshi Hakamada, Founder & CEO of ispace. “We are pleased that the transport to the launch site in Florida, has been completed successfully. The lander is carrying not only the payload entrusted to us by our customers, but also the excitement of many stakeholders. We will continue to make final preparations until the day of the launch, when the lander, which carries so many hopes, will be launched.”
The Mission 2 RESILIENCE lander being prepared for shipment at a JAXA facility prior to being sent to the US. Photo via ispace
Mission 2 Resilience is a privately funded lunar mission, with Sumitomo Bank and other investors footing the bill. It will deliver six payloads to the lunar surface. The mission will include the first experiment to attempt electrolysis on the Moon and the Tenacious rover, which will collect regolith samples to sell to NASA. It will also drop off an art project, a figure shaped like a little red house.
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation has named “Venture Moon” by Sumitomo Mutsui Bank, official partner, (SMBC). According to ispace, “The word “venture” is emblematic of new beginnings and opportunity. With the support of SMBC, ispace, aims to develop the new cislunar economy connecting the Earth and the Moon and expanding human existence into space.”
Artist’s rendering of Mission 2 Resilience in lunar orbit. Graphic via iSpace
NASA and SpaceX have updated their plans for spacecraft-to-spacecraft propellant transfer development. Currently, the company and the agency are working on developing fuel transfer hardware, and the first ship-to-ship test is scheduled for next year.
This is a major milestone in developing a lunar lander for the Artemis program. SpaceX’s Starship will serve as the primary Human Landing System (HLS) in the American-led campaign to return to the moon since 1972. To function as an HLS, a starship will need to be able to refuel in orbit before going to the Moon and landing upon it.
NASA rendering of a SpaceX Starship HLS lunar lander on the surface of the moon.
Credit: NASA
Technicians at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans lift the intertank of the SLS (Space Launch System)’s core stage for NASA’s Artemis III mission to move it to another location in the 43-acre factory for further inspection and production. Photo: NASA
“Fast, Cheap, or Right. Pick two.” – an old engineering aphorism
A report from NASA’s Office of the Inspector General released several key findings about Boeing and the Michoud assembly facilities today. In that report, they cited massive cost overruns for the Exploration Upper Stage, quality issues at Michoud and an underqualified workforce at that facility.
source: NASA
Findings About the Exploration Upper Stage
The Exploration Upper Stage is a cornerstone of the Space Launch System (SLS) Block 1B rocket now slated to debut on Artemis IV. Developed and built by Boeing, it is planned to increase the SLS rocket’s cargo capability some 40%. Currently, Block 1 SLS, such as the one used for Artemis I and slated for Artemis II, can carry 27 metric tons to the moon. The Block 1B iterations of SLS, using the EUS will increase that capability to 38 metric tons.
The SLS Block 1B has been under development since 2014 and has faced changing technical requirements and competing funding priorities. These factors, along with congressional directives to accelerate the rocket’s development, have led to increased costs and schedule delays. Originally intended for the Artemis II mission, Block 1B’s first flight was moved to Artemis IV, extending the development timeline and increasing costs. Boeing’s EUS contract has grown from $962 million to over $2 billion through 2025, contributing to the overall SLS Block 1B cost increase.
NASA’s Management of Space Launch System Block 1B Development
The OIG added that Boeing’s Earned Value Management System (EVMS) has been rejected by the US Department of Defense for four years. EVMS is used to gauge adherence to budgets and timelines, and is not completely unlike a project management tool.
NASA delayed establishing the Block 1B Agency Baseline Commitment until December 2023, after 10 years of development and much later in the project life cycle than NASA’s standard practice. Without a formal cost and schedule baseline at critical milestones, the Agency was limited in its ability to assess adherence to budgets and timelines, and Congress and other stakeholders lacked visibility into the Block 1B’s increasing costs and schedule delays. Additionally, Boeing Defense, Space & Security’s EVMS, used by NASA for its Stages contract to measure cost and schedule progress, has been disapproved by the U.S. Department of Defense since 2020. DCMA has issued several Level II and III CARs for this EVMS, including a Level III CAR related to visibility into cost, schedule, and resource needs for several Boeing contracts, including Stages.
NASA’s Management of Space Launch System Block 1B Development
Essentially, it seems that the OIG is saying that NASA’s insight into progress and budgets is limited, and that the tool used to measure those critical items was deemed not fit for purpose by the DoD.
Boeing Quality Issues Cited
The OIG did not mince words in their scorn at Boeing’s quality control practices at Michoud:
While NASA requires its aerospace contractors to have quality assurance programs that comply with SAE International’s AS9100D standards on quality management systems, we found Boeing’s quality management system at Michoud does not adhere to these standards or NASA requirements. NASA engages DCMA to conduct surveillance of Boeing’s core and upper stage manufacturing efforts at Michoud, and when deficiencies in quality are found, DCMA issues Corrective Action Requests (CAR) to the contractor. CARs are labeled Level I through IV, with Level I the least serious deficiency. From September 2021 to September 2023, DCMA issued Boeing 71 Level I and II CARs, as well as a draft Level III CAR. According to DCMA officials, this is a high number of CARs for a space flight system at this stage in development and reflects a recurring and degraded state of product quality control. Boeing’s process to address deficiencies to date has been ineffective, and the company has generally been nonresponsive in taking corrective actions when the same quality control issues reoccur.
NASA’s Management of Space Launch System Block 1B Development
SAE International’s AS9100D is an industry-standard framework for guiding quality systems for manufacturers in the aerospace field. It came about when aerospace companies found that in practice, ISO 9001 was inadequate for DoD, NASA, FAA customer requirements. AS9100 added 55 aerospace industry-specific amplifications and requirements to ISO 9001:1994, and is often viewed as the quality standard for companies like Boeing.
Quality standards are dry to read to be sure, but they are part and parcel of any manufacturing process. Government procurement quality standards are easily found online, and make for good — if not exciting — reading.
Level I CARs [Corrective Action Requests] are issued to the supplier management level responsible for taking corrective actions for a nonconformity that can be corrected on the spot, and where no further corrective action response is necessary.
Level II CARs are the minimum level for a nonconformity associated with critical characteristics. They are issued to the supplier management level responsible for initiating corrective actions when the contractual nonconformity cannot be corrected on the spot. Level II CARs may be issued to subcontractors, and may be coupled with contractual remedies such as charge for additional cost of inspection or test when prior rejection makes reinspection or retest necessary. The purpose of a Level II CAR is to help a supplier improve their QMS. [Quality Management System]
Level III CARs are issued to the supplier’s top management for serious contractual nonconformities, failure to respond to a Level II CAR that has been issued, and repeat Level II CARs which indicates inadequate root cause determinations. Level III CARs are issued by the DCMA NSEO ACO and may be coupled with contractual remedies to include reduction of progress payments, cost disallowances, business management systems disapprovals, and charge for additional cost of inspection or test when prior rejection makes reinspection or retest necessary. A Level III CAR is the DCMA NSEO Commander’s management tool to correct issues that need to be addressed.
Level IV CARs are issued to the supplier’s top management when a Level III CAR has been ineffective and when the contractual nonconformity is of a serious nature. Level IV CARs are issued by the DCMA NSEO ACO and may be coupled with contractual remedies to include suspension of progress payments, suspension of product acceptance activities, removal of QAR from facility, and charge for additional cost of inspection or test when prior rejection makes reinspection or retest necessary.
The OIG found that Boeing Michoud had a higher-than-acceptable level of quality issues, with 71 lower-level violations leading to the drafting of a single higher-level finding. In short, that finding is all but a red alert that quality problems are present and persisting, and OIG continued by saying that Boeing’s responses and corrective actions were inadequate.
Artemis II’s Core Stage, built by Boeing at Michoud, arriving at KSC in July 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Workforce Issues
OIG cited workforce issues at Michoud as a major concern:
According to NASA officials, the welding issues arose due to Boeing’s inexperienced technicians and inadequate work order planning and supervision. The lack of a trained and qualified workforce increases the risk that Boeing will continue to manufacture parts and components that do not adhere to NASA requirements and industry standards.
NASA’s Management of Space Launch System Block 1B Development
Later in the report, OIG explained why this is a problem for Boeing:
According to Safety and Mission Assurance officials at NASA and DCMA officials at Michoud, Boeing’s quality control issues are largely caused by its workforce having insufficient aerospace production experience. Michoud officials stated that it has been difficult to attract and retain a contractor workforce with aerospace manufacturing experience in part due to Michoud’s geographical location in New Orleans, Louisiana, and lower employee compensation relative to other aerospace competitors.
NASA’s Management of Space Launch System Block 1B Development
Boeing is paying a lower than market rate for employees in a region of the US that is less desirable for those workers. Put another way, highly experienced, high-talent individuals can make more money while they live in areas that they prefer to Michoud.
Effectively, Boeing has made the business decision to have a pay rate structure that has aligned with with a lesser experienced, lower skilled workforce at Michoud.
We project the SLS Program’s Block 1B development costs will reach approximately $5.7 billion before the system is scheduled to launch in 2028. This is $700 million more than the Block 1B cost and schedule baseline, or Agency Baseline Commitment (ABC), that NASA formally established in December 2023 at nearly $5 billion. The EUS accounts for more than half of the cost of Block 1B development. We estimate EUS development costs will reach nearly $2.8 billion through 2028, roughly three times the initially agreed-upon cost of $962 million in 2017.
NASA’s Management of Space Launch System Block 1B Development
Specific Recommendations From OIG
The OIG made four specific recommendations:
1. Coordinate with Boeing, the SLS Stages prime contractor, to develop a quality management system training program that is compliant with AS9100D and reviewed by the appropriate NASA officials.
2. Institute financial penalties for Boeing’s noncompliance with quality control standards.
3. Perform a detailed cost overrun analysis on Boeing’s Stages contract for EUS development.
4. Coordinate with DCMA [Defense Contract Management Agency] to ensure contractual compliance with EVMS clauses.
NASA Response
In Appendix B of the OIG Report, NASA said the following: first, that it concurs with recommendations 1, 3, and 4, but that it does not agree (“nonconcurs”) with the second recommendation, to institute financial penalties for Boeing’s non-compliance with quality control standards.
Its rationale for declining the second recommendation is that the agency
“interprets this recommendation to be directing NASA to institute penalties outside the bounds of the contract. There are already authorities in the contract, such as award fee provisions, which enable financial ramifications for noncompliance with quality control standards.”
The agency commented that
“NASA is dedicated to ensuring that its workforce and associated contractors are qualified and properly trained to ensure the safety of its missions. This includes employing project managers and technical experts who work closely with contractors to provide guidance and ensure compliance with contractual obligations. NASA holds all its programs to the highest technical and programmatic standard levied on the spaceflight community, and ESDMD bears the responsibility of equipping Artemis astronauts with safe, reliable hardware to enable the most ambitious of engineering and scientific goals.
NASA also cited supply chain and labor shortages as drivers of cost and scheduling impacts.
“The aerospace industry is facing significant supply chain disruptions, similar to, and in some cases in a more acute scale, to the broader economic supply chain issues. These disruptions have been exacerbated by various factors, including labor shortages, transportation delays, and raw material shortages. These disruptions have had a profound impact on the aerospace industry, leading to production delays, increased costs, and challenges in meeting customer demand. ESDMD’s buying power is decreasing each year and escalating. These unforeseen challenges, including technical issues, are all contributing factors to cost and schedule impacts. NASA is working to adapt through proactive management strategies and understanding the interconnected factors shaping the aerospace market’s dynamics.”
Taken all together, this does not paint a pretty picture for a company that has been dogged by quality problems across the breadth of its business. Nor does it paint a pretty picture for the future of SLS — a program whose total costs have spiraled upwards seemingly non-stop since its inception.
Clearly, Boeing is not managing its manufacturing very well, and it is failing to address serious issues as they arise. In short, it sounds a lot like the same issues Boeing is facing with its commercial aircraft business.
Whether this draws the eye and ire of Congress remains to be seen. Perhaps these eye popping numbers of the exploding cost of the EUS project in the OIG report makes that inevitable, and perhaps in a Congressional examination lower cost alternatives may gain traction. Time will tell.
The Core Stage on the move after being offloaded today at Kennedy Space Center Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
After berthing in the Turn Basin by the Press Center yesterday, the Core Stage of Artemis II was offloaded today and moved into the VAB. The process began around 9 a.m. EDT and took nearly three hours until the 212-foot rocket traveled the relatively short distance—perhaps 1/2 kilometer—to the VAB.
After the Solid Rocket Boosters are assembled in the VAB, the Core Stage will then be mounted between the two. The ten segments for those SRBs are already at Kennedy Space Center, in storage in the Rotation, Processing, and Surge Facility, located just north of the VAB at Kennedy Space Center.
Daniel Jimenez, Operations Project Engineer (OPE) within the Vehicle Integration and Launch branch of the Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) Program said yesterday that the SRBs are “Essentially primed and ready to go. What’s left for the VAB is obviously get all the facility ready.”
Jiminez also mentioned that Mobile Launch Platform that will be used for Artemis II is currently out at Pad LC-39B, where it is being set up for the launch of Artemis II. “More importantly, we get the ground systems ready,” he said, “So, we’re finishing up all of the testing of the systems that we have for Artemis II. It’s a crewed mission. So there are some systems that have to be updated for the Mobile Launcher Platform. That’s out at the pad.”
Later this summer, the testing will be completed, the VAB prepared and configured and then in the fall, the assembly of Artemis II will begin in earnest.
KSC workers watching the Core Stage for Artemis II entering the VABThe Core Stage turning to enter the VABThe Core StageFour Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 engines power Aremis II’s Core StageThe Core Stage entering the VAB.Closeup of two of the RS-25 engines.Have you ever moved a sofa or washer into your house and it would juuuuuuust fit through the door? This reminds a little of that..
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