Congress Apparently Feels a Need for “Reaffirmation” of SLS Rocket
Freeman writes:
There is a curious section in the new congressional reauthorization bill for NASA that concerns the agency's large Space Launch System rocket.
The section is titled "Reaffirmation of the Space Launch System," and in it Congress asserts its commitment to a flight rate of twice per year for the rocket. The reauthorization legislation, which cleared a House committee on Wednesday, also said NASA should identify other customers for the rocket.
[...] Congress created the SLS rocket 14 years ago with the NASA Authorization Act of 2010. The large rocket kept a river of contracts flowing to large aerospace companies, including Boeing and Northrop Grumman, who had been operating the Space Shuttle. Congress then lavished tens of billions of dollars on the contractors over the years for development, often authorizing more money than NASA said it needed. Congressional support was unwavering, at least in part because the SLS program boasts that it has jobs in every state.
[...] With this legislation, then, Congress is asking NASA to find other customers for the rocket, be they from the private sector, US Department of Defense, or elsewhere. This is a bit like selling sand to a Bedouin, and NASA has already fought this losing fight in the past. The Department of Defense has said thanks but no thanks.
NASA also sought another "customer" in its Science Directorate, offering the SLS to launch the $4 billion Europa Clipper spacecraft on the SLS rocket. However, in 2021, the agency said it would use a Falcon Heavy provided by SpaceX. The agency's cost for this was $178 million, compared to the more than $2 billion it would have cost to use the SLS rocket for such a mission. Additionally, mission scientists had serious concerns about a "shaking" issue with the SLS rocket. This large vehicle is powered off the pad by two very large solid rocket boosters that produce significant vibrations.
[...] There can be little question that the SLS program and its contractors are feeling the heat as these commercial rockets come to the fore. New Glenn is likely to make its debut this year or early next and is pushing for first-stage reusability to lower costs. SpaceX has launched its experimental Starship vehicle four times since the debut of the SLS rocket and will probably launch it at least half a dozen more times before the next SLS launch. Whereas NASA's 'stretch' goal for SLS is to launch the rocket twice a year, SpaceX is working toward launching multiple Starships a day.
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