NASA's Most Expensive SLS Mobile Launcher: $2.7 billion!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ม.ค. 2025
- NASA contractor Bechtel is building the Space Launch System (SLS)'s Mobile Launcher 2. In the new NASA Office of Inspector General report, the projected cost of ML-2 will climb to $2.7 billion and not be ready until spring 2029. Politics is in play as to why this project has been allowed to become so expensive and why it won't be canceled.
Thumbnail background image credit: NASA (yes, that's ML-1, not ML-2)
In-video image and video credit: NASA, NASA OIG, Bechtel, ESA
NASA’s Management of the Mobile Launcher 2 Project: oig.nasa.gov/o...
NASA chief says cost-plus contracts are a “plague” on the space agency: arstechnica.co...
A Review of the President’s Fiscal Year 2023 Funding Request for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation: www.appropriat...
Grow your business in space: astralytical.com/
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Did they already start with construction? Why not a static launch tower? And a building (steel box) that moves away for the launch?
For this new price the launcher should catch the SLS, give it a wash, and then paint it too.
How can they still be analysing the effects on the Mobile Launcher from the launch of first SLS launch?! SpaceX destroyed the pad on the first Starship/Super Heavy launch and had the pad rebuild with improvements in no time at all! And have carried out another three launches!
Couldn't NASA give ME an award fee? Admittedly i haven't done anything to help the space program, but at least i haven't squandered billions of dollars.
🤣 🤣 🤣
*_"...is over budget and going to slip its schedule..."_*
And in OTHER breaking news:
*"WATER WET, SKY BLUE, FIRE HOT"*
I just can’t comprehend the incompetence
Why don't they pay SpaceX to design and manage construction of the launch platform for NASA? Pay SpaceX $300 million and give them 15% of any savings they make from the $2.7 billion budget currently forcast. SpaceX developed the Crew Dragon with $2.1 billion contract.
Just think about that for a moment: NASA paid Space X the same amount they will have paid Betchel and Space X has launched dozens of missions to the ISS while Batches has yet to deliver a mobile launcher, something significantly less complicated.
Why would SpaceX want to? I have no doubt they could do it better, faster, and for a fraction of the price, but it’s not really their wheelhouse.
SpaceX Mechazilla launch towers and the oil rig launch towers cost less than $100 million each. Oil rigs that they sell later...
It sounds like NASA needs a management overhaul.
Congress allocates these funds, not NASA. NASA is obligated to use the same contractors to keep jobs in various congressional districts.
Just imagine Mechazilla catching the booster on this upcoming test. How many catches will Space X's towers have before this money pit monstrosity is complete by 2029?
2029? Get real dude…
Well they have 1 now, so start counting lol.
Apparently the Burj Khalifa only cost ~$1.5 Billion. I get a little "passionate" when people say space flight is a waste of money but oh boy does NASA waste what they do have. Do you think they will ever resolve their overspending issue? I know that would upset a lot of contractors and also congress too but so be it.
@@stocky9218 By the nature of how NASA is appropriated funding, no, I do not see how they can fix the issues of overspending.
@@lauraforczyk Unfortunately I agree. I don’t think NASA could exist without the waste of money : (
The overspending issue is extremely easy to fix too. Give the contracts to new and hungry companies
I can’t resist jumping in to the deep end of the pool here. Caveat, I’m not a fanboy of Elon any more than Peter Beck though I’ll state at the open here I dig them both. What they’ve accomplished and what their work has and will continue to do to change our trajectory if you will. NASA is now forced by reality, to change what they do and how they do it. Aka, SpaceX, very accomplishments prove that more can be done with less and? They aren’t the only ones. Rocket Lab, etc…. It’s no easy feat either and requires an extremely talented, gifted, intelligent team to pull off rocket science. Aka, sorry for drolling on but this is like the 4 minute mile. It’s been broken and as a result? This newly opened avenue is rife with incredible talent and desire to become a part of it. Now, pair this with robotics and AI advancements on the same timeline? We have a front row seat for what will be the most insanely creative decade we’ve ever witnessed. And? Many will come to the table in any of the three and absolutely kill it for a tenth of what the big boys (Alphabet, Meta, Apple, Etc…) had to spend to get there. Great stuff.
Money laundering at this point.
Do you know what you are talking about? That is not the way money laundering works. This is just wasteful use of public funds, not money laundering!
Mooney laundering.
😂@@KevinBalch-dt8ot
So, you think NASA is laundering money? I don't think you understand money laundering.
@@kevikiru"Here we go. Here we go. Launder. To clean... No. Wash. Here it is: To conceal the source of money as by channeling it through an intermediary." This is probably what happens at the boeing offices
A genuine fear that China lands astronauts before Artemis is the only thing that *might* force Congress to make better decisions. Bill Nelson himself has articulated this concern to Congress, speculating that China might treat the Moon the way they've treated the South China Sea, and land their astronauts, put up a fence around the lunar South Pole, and say "This is ours. You stay out."
Water rights … just like an old cowboy movie plot in the Wild West
The entire SLS/Orion program is just so sad
Keep it up, you’re doing great.
@@davida.rosser9930 Thanks!
You read my mind. I was just thinking about this yesterday.
SpaceX just built the second tower in 2 months. Why does Bechtel take 10 years?
SpaceX did spend a lot of time pre-making the parts for the tower. However, the towers are easily much cheaper than the SLS tower
@@snakevenom4954
SX built 3 towers that are bigger and taller than the Bechtel tower since the latter got the contract to build just one … for $ billions less. It’s an outrage. Did I also mention that those 3 towers not only launch rockets but also catch them for return….
@@paulpark1170 SpaceX Mechazilla launch towers and the oil rig launch towers cost less than $100 million each. Oil rigs that they sell later...
Fair question. The SX towers are not mobile. They do have a fancy elevator but are simpler to build.
This is a truly outrageous price for a mobile launch tower. The upgrades to this and the EUS on SLS Block 1b are genuine threats to the future of the Artemis programme I'm afraid to say 😔
@@ross077 I agree. It will be difficult to justify the costs for years to come.
100% agree with your conclusions!
Is it made of gold?
Platinum! 😂
@@gorgonbert and a few micrograms of antimatter, just as spice on top :D
How do you spell "Kick Back".
I’ve been helping build the ML2, I’m not surprised it’s ran over it’s budget. But it is an insane project, just wait for it to be done.
If the launcher is only used once, then both the rocket and launcher are one and done. That balloons the cost for every launch.
The first mobile launcher is being used 3 times (Artemis I, II and III). This second one, we don't know how many times it will launch for Artemis IV and however many SLS block 1B launches come after.
is this a one use tower? because the SLS rockets are all different sizes / efficiencies / builds. also they are not "new". The crawlers are from the 1960s and there are no new ones. Loving this channel and "Eager Space". These 2 channels give you a heads up for what is going to happen in the coming 2-3 years. No need for daily feeds.
My bet is that Orion can fit on space X super heavy with some adaptation and that SLS will be scrapped even though NASA will have paid upfront billions for it all.
Great report 😊
@@chiefalien Thanks!
I want one! Roll it down the road, charge a toll to drive by; set up a cell tower and ... charge a toll. Good fun!
Wow! New Mobile launcher worth it's weight in silver? Insane amount of cost for such a low flight rate. and you can bet it won't be the last contract plus-up before project is finished.
Great insights and analysis!! Keep up the nice reporting!
Thank you!
NASA didnt even get ULA to build extra ICPS's just in case this situation happened, its not like I-Hab and other Gateway modules can't be launched to Gateway seperately. I'm so looking forward to more delays after Artemis III, while we wait for ML-2 and EUS, yaay
Ain’t “Cost Plus” beautiful (for the insiders, not the taxpayer)!
Remind us of SpaceX building a second tower at Boca Chica that launches a rocket of twice the thrust & will catch said rocket in less than a month!😊
LAURA: Who is this _"Boeing"_ you speak of?
🤭🤭🤭
NASA spent a lot of money rehabbing the old ARES launch tower, that probably should have been spent on a proper tower. The old tower was designed to launch a scaled-up bottle rocket and was never intended to handle fuel lines and cryogenic propellants. The SLS is heavier and all the infrastructure that was added to the tower did not help. It is like NASA has forgotten how to spec and build a launch tower. Maybe they can find someone that has had more recent experience building launch towers, certainly across the world there must be some country or person that knows how to build launch tower reliably.
Boeing got 4 engineers and three of them are named Larry. They’re going to run another cost analysis and see how they can charge more while cutting expectations and making things as cheaply as possible.
Is there an oversight committee for NASA? Who is the adult making the the kickbacks…..errr budget decisions?
NASA Office of Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office are both oversight organizations, but they don't control the money. Congress does. And this is what Congress wants.
Boeing should be highly audited for all its contracts. NASA needs to strengthen its firewalls and safeguards against commercial corporate influence like Boeing. It is obvious most government organisations like NASA and regulatory bodies like FAA or the Fed are vulnerable to industry capture. Unfortunately the reality is the presidency, legislative bodies, the 4th estate (press) and even the Supreme Court have been increasingly controlled by the system of lobbyists and campaign finance. The rise of the corporate-elite-billionaire plutocracy and its grip on power is a real challenge Americans face.
This is what people don't understand.. they criticize government for inefficiency and cost overrun but if you look closely, it's all underlying corporations making billions from the tax payers..like legalized stealing. All these corporate funded congressmen are happy to reward their corporate donors... It happens in defence procurement with overpriced weapons. Something needs to stop..it's happening year after year..
For something like this, a well established civil engineering project, i.e. build a tower rigged with utilities, they should've just done a fixed cost contract. Cost plus is really only justified if you're trying to develop something new and novel with the reasonable expectation of unforseen unknowns. Once that "thing" is ready for serial production, or if it's a common piece of hardware or infrastructure, you should insist on fixed cost. For example, the first Crew Dragon - cost plus. Crew Dragon #2, 3, 4, and 5 - fixed cost. Buildings, towers, launchpads roads, bridges, etc. - FIXED COST. For a cost plus, the customer takes some of the risk... fair enough. For fixed, it's the responsibility of the provider to know their business and their costs... the risk SHOULD be on them.
So hard to hear this story. I hope the next administration can reallocate MUCH better. Shut it down.
I wonder how much SpaceX towers cost?
SpaceX towers are "modular" so more easy.
SpaceX Mechazilla launch towers and the oil rig launch towers cost less than $100 million each. Oil rigs that they sell later....
By the time this overpriced boon dongle gets finished, China/Russia will have a base on the moon.
I am 100% sure they could have changed the funding to this thing, finished the VIPER moon rover, and still came out a head. So frusterating.
Uhhh, couldn't a SpaceX super heavy booster launch the gateway by itself? I mean, it might have to be expended, but damn, just build an empty faring for it and send it! This decade. 😅
I love modern capitalism… government agency in bed with private corporations
This is horrible - the entire idea of a SLS that can't even send something that can land on the moon is just stupid. Now 2 diff launch systems they need? Waste of money and time... Just use starship or Falcon Heavy...
Well, when you lose a billion $ on a spacecraft, you have to recover your loses some how.
How can SpaceX build a launch tower in 8 days far more complex too with draw works and chopsticks cheaper than NASA 😒😒😒
Is that a cost plus program? If so then it's not in the business interest to be on time or on budget! It's the worst contract for anyone to sign. The Cost Plus Contract system should have been scrapped years ago!
The entire starship program thus far is under $5 billion. Asinine how much NASA wastes on crap.
Wide base as it should be, not like that other guy.
I'll do it for 2.6 billion and have it done by 2028.
Just subcontract to spacex and pocket 1/2 the money
Backtell gets an F
It’s called “Conspiracy to commit fraud”, it will never stop until someone goes to jail!
stolen money.
NASA not fit for purpose
Cancel this turkey immediately!
Waste of tax dollars.
Socialism for corporate.. seriously.. spending insane money to "provide" jobs where it would be cheaper to pay people to build nothing (sarcastic). How can socialism hating politician be begging for socialism for their corporate donors...who would have thought ( wink wink)