NASA Inspector General Details $5.9 Billion Artemis Overruns After 4 Canceled Projects
Updated
Updated · Ars Technica · Jun 24
NASA Inspector General Details $5.9 Billion Artemis Overruns After 4 Canceled Projects
2 articles · Updated · Ars Technica · Jun 24
Summary
$5.9 billion in combined contract value was tied to four canceled Artemis elements, up from nearly $2.8 billion, according to a new NASA inspector general memorandum.
Those projects — the Exploration Upper Stage, Universal Stage Adapter, Mobile Launcher 2 and Gateway's Habitation and Logistics Outpost — also saw contracted delivery dates slip by as much as seven years.
NASA had already scrapped the programs as it pivoted from a lunar-orbit station toward a Moon surface base, arguing the hardware was not essential to landing astronauts.
The watchdog said costs and schedules would likely have worsened further if work had continued, reinforcing NASA's case that the projects were over budget, late and still not ready.