Space Launch System Upgrade Costs Soaring, NASA IG Warns

Irene Klotz Mark Carreau August 30, 2024
NASA Space Launch System concept

Powered by four Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10 C-3 engines, the Exploration Upper Stage (EUS) is designed to increase by 40% the lift capacity of NASA’s Space Launch System to send payloads to the Moon. The EUS will replace the single-engine Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage that flew on the 2022 Artemis I mission and is planned to be used on Artemis II and III.

Credit: NASA
Development of an upgraded upper stage for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket, as well as the mobile launcher needed to support the taller, heavier booster, will cost billions more than expected, the agency’s inspector general warned in a pair of recent audits. NASA plans to begin flying the Space...
Irene Klotz

Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral. Before joining Aviation Week in 2017, Irene spent 25 years as a wire service reporter covering human and robotic spaceflight, commercial space, astronomy, science and technology for Reuters and United Press International.

Mark Carreau

Mark is based in Houston, where he has written on aerospace for more than 25 years. While at the Houston Chronicle, he was recognized by the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Foundation in 2006 for his professional contributions to the public understanding of America's space program through news reporting.

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