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from the cost-plus-contracting-the-spice-must-flow dept.
Rich Smith at The Motley Fool opines that NASA's SLS Rocket Just Got $3.2 Billion More Expensive:
How much is too much to pay for an SLS rocket? And how much is so much that it gets SLS canceled?
At an estimated $1.55 billion in cost per launch, and $209 billion total over its 30-year history, the U.S. Space Shuttle program was easily NASA's most expensive project since the Apollo Moon Program -- but NASA's next project is going to make it look like a bargain. Two years ago, an investigation by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) estimated that each time NASA launches its new Space Launch System (SLS), taxpayers will ante up "over $2 billion."
As it turns out, OMB was being optimistic.
[...] Last week, NASA awarded one of its main subcontractors on the SLS project, Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC), a $3.2 billion contract to build booster rockets for five SLS rockets that will participate in the Project Artemis moon program.
[...] These boosters are essential to the Artemis program, providing "more than 75% of the thrust for each SLS launch," as NASA explains, but they do come at a cost. Specifically, each rocket booster will cost taxpayers -- and benefit Northrop Grumman -- more than $290 million.
[...] For the cost of just one Northrop Grumman booster rocket (which will be discarded after launch), NASA could buy two entire SpaceX rocketships. For what Northrop is charging to help launch one single SLS, NASA could launch four Falcon Heavy missions.
Your tax dollars at work. Also: Re-usable shuttle engines on an expendable launcher.
(Score: 2) by unauthorized on Wednesday December 22 2021, @11:30AM (3 children)
A scam to leech US state funds into the hands of private billionaires? Yeah, sounds about right. Collectivize the risks, privatize the profits - 'tis the glorious future.
(Score: 4, Informative) by khallow on Wednesday December 22 2021, @01:53PM
Here's a simple exercise. Figure out how much US state funds SpaceX leached from NASA (it's roughly $3.2 billion [christopherrcooper.com] over 2002-2020 (so a little more than the above SLS contract due to inflation). And figure out how much US state funds the SLS contractors have leached from NASA (it's roughly $18 billion [nextbigfuture.com], including Orion).
Finally figure out how many launches NASA got from SpaceX (39 launches [wikipedia.org] so far) versus SLS (0 launches). So about $170 million per launch for Falcon 9 (and possible some Falcon Heavy) launches versus nothing so far. NASA paid for results with SpaceX and just paid for a scam with SLS. Even now, the amount of money that they just threw at Northrop Grumman is almost as much as they have spent on SpaceX over the past two decades. And they have yet to get any return on the SLS spending.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday December 22 2021, @05:40PM (1 child)
I won't even attempt to argue that Musk isn't scamming the government. Musk does one mission for the government, and the profits pay for a private mission, or maybe even a bit more than 1 private mission. Pretty sweet scam - I wish I could get in on that.
But, as Khallow points out, Musk actually does perform missions for the government. SLS has never done a mission. Not one mission completed. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada.
Now, take all of the space exploration and research entities around the world, and start tallying up all their missions, failed or successful. Then rank them in order of goods and services provided, per dollar. I'm too lazy to actually do the math and research, but I'll bet SpaceX ranks in the top 25%. They are likely higher than that, but I'm unwilling to make that assertion before doing at least minimal research. I'll bet a subscription to SN on that. If I'm wrong, I pay a subscription in the name of any person you designate, if I'm right, you pay a one year subscription for some poor unfortunate individual who isn't subscribed already. Want to take that bet?
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @07:30PM
What do you have against poor unfortunates?