The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of NASA (United States Space Agency) released a report that points out errors in rocket development of the mission Artemis 4the Space Launch System (SLS) Block 1B. According to the document, the component that has been developed since 2014 does not meet standards international standards and the organization’s requirements.
Originally planned to be delivered by Boeing in 2021 and launched with Artemis 2, the SLS upper stage, the Exploration Upper Stage (EUS), promises to increase the vehicle’s payload capacity by up to 11 tons in shipments to the Moon. The report pointed out that the delay increased the costs of around R$5.2 billion to R$11 billion.
Artemis 4 has its maiden flight scheduled to be launched in September 2028, which is at risk of being postponed due to problems with the development of the EUS — with a delivery date of April 2027.
This mission aims to not only take humans back to the Moon within this decade, but also send the first female and African-descendant astronauts to the satellite.
To produce the document that evaluated the construction of the SLS upper stage, employees from the rocket development centers were interviewed and documentation, quality controls, past and current schedules and budgets were reviewed by NASA.
The OIG report identified that the biggest problem during construction is the airline’s lack of trained and experienced aerospace workers. “To mitigate these challenges, Boeing provides training and work orders to its employees. Considering the significant quality control deficiencies at Michoud [fábrica de foguetes]we consider these efforts inadequate”, says the document.
The document points out that the increased costs and delays in the schedule may have been driven by changes in the agency’s technical requirements and funding priorities in addition to the guidelines issued by Congress to try to speed up the development of the rocket.
In a cost forecast for the development of the EUS, NASA pointed out that by 2028 the value could reach around R$11 billion — R$5.8 billion more than initially estimated.
The OIG then suggests to Boeing that there be a quality management system training program; financial penalties for non-compliance with quality control standards; and detailed analysis of the excess costs and deadlines of building the rocket to date — suggestions that were accepted by the airline.
Boeing is experiencing other space-related problems. NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore — who were sent two months ago on Starliner’s first manned flight to spend a week at the International Space Station — have been at the space laboratory for more than two months with the possibility of remaining there until the beginning of 2025 due to problems with the aircraft.
And the North American agency faces constant postponements of the Artemis mission. The first of these was an unmanned test that sent the Orion capsule to take a spin around the Moon. However, the second was scheduled to take place in 2024 and the third in 2025 — both were postponed.
*With information from Fernanda Pinotti, from CNN
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