The U.S. manned space program, encompassing 168 flights over 50 years, relies on the Space Launch System to shuttle astronauts beyond low Earth orbit for future missions. (Chelsea Whyte/MEDILL)
WASHINGTON — The long wait for NASA’s decisions on the Space Launch System isn’t over.
A final report on the planned SLS, which will launch crew and cargo beyond low Earth orbit, was expected to be presented to Congress Tuesday, but decisions on cost, design, and capabilities of the planned heavy-lift vehicle will be delayed until “late this summer,” said Lori Garver, NASA Deputy Administrator, at a public event last week at Kennedy Space Center.
“Despite repeated requests, we have not yet been briefed by NASA on their plans for FY11 and future funds,” said Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala. “However, I fully expect NASA to fulfill their legal requirements to make the 130 metric ton SLS heavy lift rocket developed at Marshall the centerpiece of their efforts.”
The NASA Authorization Act of 2010, signed into law by President Barack Obama in October, compels the agency to move forward as quickly as possible to design and build the SLS alongside a multi-purpose crew spacecraft, with a goal to resume U.S. manned spaceflight by 2016.
NASA has spent the last nine months weighing the options for SLS designs and seeking industry input on the potential for basing the new vehicle on existing plans for a now-defunct Constellation rocket, but it hasn’t fully reported their findings. And Congress is getting tired of waiting.
In a June 14 letter signed by seven members of Congress from Texas, Utah, Florida, and Alabama – states with space centers directly involved in the planning and building of the SLS – NASA leadership is blamed in part for “unnecessary delay” in making decisions, and “purposefully circumventing the will of Congress.”
These representatives cite thousands of jobs lost as a result of NASA’s reluctance to announce an SLS design and modify existing contracts, requiring that Congressionally-approved funding be withheld, and urged NASA Administrator Charles Bolden to make a final decision.
“We strongly request that you stop studying and re-studying NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS)…and report to Congress on NASA’s final plan for the SLS.”
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation leadership echoed that frustration in a June 22 letter to Bolden calling NASA evasive and unwilling to cooperate.
The House Science, Space, and Technology Committee called a hearing for Tuesday, where Bolden was supposed to present final SLS plans. In light of Garver’s statement that final costs and timelines will not be ready for another two months, the hearing will instead be a chance for committee members to grill Bolden on why NASA has failed to reach a decision on the final design of the SLS.
NASA declined to comment on the upcoming hearing.