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> Can we cancel the NASA Space Launch System now? IMO, NASA/Congress will hang on to SLS for as long as it is remotely defensible. The US will need 2 heavy li
by nordsieck 6y ago
> Can we cancel the NASA Space Launch System now?
IMO, NASA/Congress will hang on to SLS for as long as it is remotely defensible.
The US will need 2 heavy lift, large diameter rockets before SLS gets the axe. Once Starship and New Glenn are flying it'll be significantly more difficult to justify the $2 billion / year spent just on the SLS program (not counting the actual rockets, which are another $1 billion a pop).
- taneq 6y agoExactly. Governments and large multinationals don’t like relying on a single supplier for anything because a single supplier is a single point of failure. No matter how good a new option is, they’ll keep the old option on life support until they have a third option.
- CrazyStat 6y agoI dare say it has little to do with having a third option (since SLS is still years away from being an option) and more to do with pork barrel politics.
- taneq 6y agoOh, I'm sure that's also a major factor. I just meant that we shouldn't expect the U.S. government to 'pick a winner' and cancel SLS even if they're competing head to head and it's clear SpaceX is blowing SLS out of the water.
- nickik 6y agoWith the ungodly amount of money spent on SLS they could support and build multible large rockets easly. The SLS is the single point of failure you should try to avoid.