Alrich Lawson | SNL
The new congressional reauthorization bill for NASA has an intriguing provision regarding the agency’s large Space Launch System rockets.
The provision, titled “Space Launch System Reaffirmation,” commits Congress to a two-flight annual rate for the rocket. The reauthorization bill, which passed a House committee on Wednesday, also says NASA should identify other customers for the rocket.
“The Secretary shall evaluate the demand for Space Launch Systems by entities other than NASA and classify that demand according to the Federal or non-governmental sector involved,” the bill states.
Congress directs NASA to report on several matters within 180 days of the bill’s passage. First, lawmakers are requesting an update on NASA’s progress toward achieving a two-flight-per-year rate for the SLS rocket and the Artemis program that will make this possible.
Additionally, Congress has asked NASA to study demand for the SLS rocket and estimate “cost and schedule savings from reduced travel times” for deep-space missions due to the rocket’s “unique capabilities.” The space agency also must identify “barriers or challenges” that could prevent organizations other than NASA from using the rocket and estimate the costs of overcoming those barriers.
Is anyone scared?
There’s a lot left to interpretation here, but the section’s inclusion (there’s no “reaffirmation” of the Orion spacecraft, for example) suggests that either the traditional space companies that build the SLS rocket, local lawmakers, or both feel the need to protect the SLS rocket. As a congressional source familiar with the bill told Ars, “This is a sign that someone’s afraid.”
Congress created the SLS rocket 14 years ago. NASA Authorization Act of 2010The big rocket spurred a flurry of contracts for the big aerospace companies that operated the space shuttle, including Boeing and Northrop Grumman. Congress then lavished tens of billions of dollars on development to contractors over the years, often approving more funding than NASA needed. Congressional support was unwavering, at least in part because the program boasted that it was creating jobs in every state.
Under original law, the SLS rocket was supposed to achieve “full operational capability” by the end of 2016. The first launch of an SLS rocket didn’t take place until late 2022, six years later. It was a complete success. However, for a variety of reasons, the rocket won’t fly again until September 2025 at the earliest.
