(ORDO NEWS) — Yesterday (August 29), the long-awaited launch of the two-stage super-heavy lunar launch vehicle Space Launch System was supposed to take place, but the pre-launch countdown was stopped 40 minutes before launch due to abnormal readings of engine sensors during testing.
Although counting money in someone else’s pocket is not decent, but, you see, it is terribly interesting. So how much does a NASA megarocket cost?
NASA began developing the SLS in 2011, immediately after the cancellation of the Constellation lunar program, which developed heavy and super-heavy Ares launch vehicles.
These rockets were planned to be used for flights to the International Space Station (ISS), the Moon, and eventually Mars.
At the time, the development budget for the giant rocket was $10 billion, with a first flight scheduled for late 2016.
But development costs, budget issues, design changes, various twists and turns and funding issues have delayed the first launch of the rocket to 2017, then to 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and finally to 2022.
A lot has happened in the space industry in over a decade of SLS development, including the advent of private cargo and manned flights to the ISS, the introduction of SpaceX reusable rockets, and the exponential emergence of new private space companies.
A report from NASA’s Office of the Inspector General released in November 2021 shows how much SLS development costs have increased between the original plan and today, and shows how expensive each SLS launch will be.
According to the report , NASA will eventually spend a total of $93 billion on the Artemis program between 2012 and 2025, with each SLS/Orion launch costing about $4.1 billion.
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