NASA watchdog warns Boeing is overbudget, behind schedule on Artemis upper rocket stage

Brooke Edwards, Florida Today
·5 min read
2

NASA's chief watchdog warned that the planned upgrade to NASA's Artemis Program moon rocket upper stage, being developed by Boeing, is now likely to cost $700 million more and require the workforce to stay on seven years longer than anticipated.

In addition to the cost and time overrun, NASA's Inspector General also expressed concerns about quality control issues and a lack of responsiveness from Boeing to address problems.

NASA had teamed up with Boeing to develop the Exploration Upper Stage (EUS) of its Artemis Program moon rocket. The 1B upper stage upgrade to NASA's SLS (Space Launch System) moon rocket is needed to carry out the Artemis IV mission, currently slated for sometime in 2028.

These development issues were disclosed in a NASA Office of Inspector General report released to the public last week − coming at the same time that attention was already already focused on Boeing's partnership with NASA over the problems with Starliner that have kept its crew on the space station for more than two months and might result in them staying there into 2025.

As the International Space Station sees its life expectancy nearing its end in 2030, NASA is on a mission to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time in over 50 years. But the Artemis effort is already wildly overbudget with spending on the program projected to reach $93 billion by 2025. And contractors like Boeing keep running into further delays.

Why is this Boeing upper stage rocket important?

Illustration of the stages of NASA's SLS moon rocket for the Artemis missions.
Illustration of the stages of NASA's SLS moon rocket for the Artemis missions.

When is the next Florida launch? Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, NASA rocket launch schedule from Florida

Artemis II is set to launch no earlier than late 2025, taking a crew of NASA astronauts around the moon. Afterward, Artemis III is projected to land the first humans in over 50 years on the lunar surface − including the first woman and person of color. That launch is tentatively set for 2026.

These two missions will use the current SLS Block 1 upper stage, which has the ability to transport 27 metric tons to the moon. During Artemis III, the astronauts will dock the Orion spacecraft to the SpaceX Starship human lander system, while two astronauts take the Starship to the lunar surface.

Yet NASA has bigger plan that include the Gateway − an orbiting outpost around the moon. Under this plan, the Orion spacecraft and Starship lander would dock to Gateway in lunar orbit.

While SpaceX is building the lunar lander for the mission, commercial partners such as Northrop Grumman, as well as international partners such as Europe, Japan, Canada, and United Arab Emirates, are working on Gateway.

In order to carry out these plans and transport more supplies, there must be improvements to the upper stage of the rocket − which gives the Orion spacecraft the power needed to make it to the moon.

This is where the SLS Block IB comes in. It would have the ability to transport an improved 38 metric tons to the moon. This improved upper stage, known as Exploration Upper Stage, is being developed under a contract with Boeing.

NASA watchdog cites concerns about budget and quality control

Like the Artemis Program as a whole, the development of this improved upper stage has been delayed several years. The latest Office of Inspector General report cited Boeing and NASA for a series of problems:

  • Boeing’s quality management system at the Michoud facility outside New Orleans does not meet NASA standards. "We found that Boeing’s quality management system at Michoud does not effectively adhere to industry standards or NASA requirements, resulting in production delays to the SLS core and upper stages and increased risk to the integrated spacecraft," the report said.

  • The Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) issued to 71 corrective action requests to Boeing, mostly minor, between September 2021 and September 2023. The sheer number of corrective actions at this stage of development reflects poorly on quality control, the report said.

  • Boeing has been ineffective and non-responsive in taking corrective actions, according to the report.

  • These quality control issues at Michoud center on things like a lack of training among Boeing employees. For example, during an inspection in 2023 at Michoud, officials highlighted the welding on a liquid oxygen fuel tank dome and the discovery of foreign object debris on flight hardware.

  • The Exploration Upper Stage was scheduled to be delivered to NASA back in early 2021. It is now projected that the development of SLS Block 1B will not be complete until 2027 (for a 2028 launch, which may still be delayed), and rise to the cost of approximately $5.7 billion - $700 million more than NASA anticipated.

  • This delay keeps the workforce on for seven years longer than anticipated.

  • Manufacturing and supply chain issues are also having a negative impact. Schedule and priority changes are to blame as well, as EUS funds were moved to the Artemis 1 core stage development.

NASA and Boeing both play a part in the delay

During the report investigation, the Inspector General cited both NASA and Boeing for being too relaxed in meeting timeline goals and standards. The report claims:

  • NASA did not establish an agency cost and schedule baseline until December 2023, which hindered the agency's ability to judge adherence to spending and schedule.

  • NASA has been using Boeing's Earned Value Management System to judge costs and schedule. The U.S. Department of Defense has disapproved of this system's use since 2020.

  • Congress and other stakeholders had limited insight into the Block 1B’s delays and rising costs.

Recommendations for NASA's Boeing contract

The report recommends that multiple officials from NASA not only conduct an analysis on the cost of Boeing’s contract for the Exploration Upper Stage, but provide more visibility into cost and schedule. They are also said penalties should be issued in cases of non-compliance with NASA quality control.

The report also called for a quality management training program for Boeing employees.

A draft of the Inspector General report was issued to NASA management − and corrective action is planned for all suggestions except the issuance of penalties against Boeing, with which NASA disagreed.

"NASA non-concurs. NASA interprets this recommendation to be directing NASA to institute penalties outside the bounds of the contract. There are already authorities in the contract, such as award fee provisions, which enable financial ramifications for noncompliance with quality control standards," NASA responded.

FLORIDA TODAY reached out to Boeing, which deferred comment to NASA.

Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@floridatoday.com or on X: @brookeofstars.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: NASA's Artemis IV upper stage by Boeing cited for spending, quality issues