Latest news with #SpaceLaunchSystems
Euronews
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
US greenlights billions for Moon missions despite Musk's opposition
The US Senate approved $10 billion (€8.5 billion) in additional funding for Moon missions that are not supported by billionaire Elon Musk. Almost half the earmarked funds for NASA in 2025, or $4.1 billion (€3.49 billion), will build two Space Launch Systems (SLS) rockets for Artemis IV and V missions because it is the 'only human-rated rocket available that can get humans to the Moon'. The Senate is also granting $2.6 billion (€2.21 billion) to the Gateway space station, the first international space station to be built around the Moon, which it says is 'critical for establishing a sustained human presence on the Moon.' Musk has said in the past that the Space Launch System(SLS) rockets 'make him sad,' because they're not reusable, insinuating that a 'billion dollar rocket is blown up every launch'. The SpaceX CEO has also said the International Space Station (ISS) should be deorbited in favour of future Mars missions. The move comes after a very public fallout between Musk and US President Donald Trump, who suggested the initial cuts to Artemis missions in the first draft of the budget review. The rest of the 2025 budget for NASA includes funding for a Mars sample return rover, the procurement of the Orion spacecraft used for the Artemis missions, five years' worth of missions at the ISS and improvements to various American space centres. Artemis, Gateway cuts could've hurt Europe The previous NASA budget request only allowed funding to continue for the upcoming Artemis II mission, set to launch in 2026, and Artemis III, the first flight to return humans to the surface of the Moon, set for 2027. However, the budget cuts funding for future Artemis missions, including Artemis IV. Ahead of the Senate vote, European experts warned Euronews Next that NASA cuts to the Artemis missions and other space programmes could have a detrimental effect. The European Space Agency (ESA) builds European Space Modules (ESMs) that provide electricity and oxygen to Orion, the spacecraft picked by NASA for the Artemis missions to the surface of the Moon. The ESA also contributes three key elements for Gateway. Experts previously told Euronews Next that if the Trump administration's budget were to be passed, Europe would lose 'guaranteed, sustained presence in cislunar space' if the Artemis missions were to be defunded. There would have also been shutdowns to key production lines on the space modules and the Gateway hardware, they said.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Boeing warns employees of 400 job cuts coming to SLS Program: 'Way to expensive'
The Brief Boeing is preparing to cut hundreds of jobs as the company has notified its employees to expect 400 positions to be eliminated by April. These layoffs are set to impact workers involved in NASA's Space Launch Systems (SLS) rocket program, the vehicle designed to send astronauts to the Moon. Experts in the space industry suggest that the decision could be tied to ongoing cost overruns and delays in the program's timeline. Hundreds of jobs could be on the chopping block for Boeing employees. What we know The company told its team to prepare for 400 job cuts by April. The cuts would affect people working on NASA's Space Launch Systems (SLS) rocket, the vehicle that's supposed to take astronauts to the moon. Space experts say continued cost concerns and schedule delays may be the reason why Boeing is making cuts to the program. The SLS has been in the works for more than a decade. It's taking too long to build, and it's getting pricey. "SLS is just way too expensive. $4.2 billion a launch," said Zac Aubert, a space expert who founded the Launch Pad Network. Time and money are two pressing problems with the vehicle, and Boeing isn't confident the program has a future. What they're saying In a statement shared with FOX 35 on Monday, a Boeing spokesperson said: "To align with revisions to the Artemis program and cost expectations, today we informed our space launch systems team of the potential for approximately 400 fewer positions by April 2025." Aubert isn't surprised by the news, but does have questions about what this means for Artemis. "With DOGE and you know the government being re-evaluated on its spending, you know SLS was something that was going to be modified or on the chopping block," he said. "If SLS gets cancelled, is that the end of Orion?" NASA isn't indicating any changes with SLS, even with Boeing's announcement to employees. A NASA spokesperson told FOX 35: "NASA's SLS (space launch system) rocket is an essential component of the agency's Artemis campaign... NASA defers to its industry contractors for more information regarding their workforces." Aubert thinks the SLS program needs a closer look to cut costs, and astronauts may use something else to reach the moon. "Why are we wasting money in these departments when there's cheaper options, faster options?," he pointed out. FOX 35's Esther Bower asked: Do you think our mission to the moon could be cut? "I think the Artemis astronauts will fly to the moon. I don't know if they will fly off the planet on SLS and Orion. It could be on starship," concluded Aubert. What we don't know Boeing has not yet indicated the specific locations of where job cuts would be. STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 35 ORLANDO: Download the FOX Local app for breaking news alerts, the latest news headlines Download the FOX 35 Storm Team Weather app for weather alerts & radar Sign up for FOX 35's daily newsletter for the latest morning headlines FOX Local:Stream FOX 35 newscasts, FOX 35 News+, Central Florida Eats on your smart TV The Source This story was written based on information shared by Boeing, NASA, and Zac Aubert, a space expert and founder of the Launch Pad Network.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Boeing prepares for 400 layoffs related to NASA's Artemis program
Boeing told its employees working on the NASA Artemis lunar program's Space Launch System rocket they could be facing layoffs by April. The move underscores the uncertainty facing the Artemis program under the Trump administration, although no specific modifications to the current Artemis plan have been disclosed. 'To align with revisions to the Artemis program and cost expectations, today we informed our Space Launch Systems team of the potential for approximately 400 fewer positions by April 2025,' the company said in a media statement. The company, which announced the potential layoffs on Friday, said it was required to give 60-day notices of involuntary layoffs to all impacted employees as part of the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. 'We are working with our customer and seeking opportunities to redeploy employees across our company to minimize job losses and retain our talented teammates,' the company stated. Artemis team leaders say major changes under Trump could mean more delays Boeing is the prime contractor on the SLS rocket's core stage, which when combined with solid rocket boosters from Northrop Grumman provide the rocket with 8.8. million pounds of thrust at liftoff, making it for now the most powerful rocket ever to send something into orbit. So far the SLS rocket has flown just once, on the uncrewed Artemis I mission in late 2022, that sent the Lockheed Martin-build Orion spacecraft on an orbital mission to the moon. The second SLS rocket is tapped for Artemis II, which would be the first crewed mission of Orion slated for no later than April 2026, aiming to fly four astronauts around, but not land on the moon. The core stage for that mission arrived to Kennedy Space Center last summer and is now located within the Vehicle Assembly Building where it will be mated with the solid rocket boosters and potentially fully stacked and ready to roll to Launch Pad 39-B before the end of the year for wet dress rehearsals. The Artemis III mission would follow during which Orion would rendezvous with a SpaceX Starship while in lunar orbit so astronauts could venture down and return humans to the moon for the first time since the end of the Apollo program in 1972. That mission for now is slated to come as early as summer 2027. The Trump administration, though, especially with SpaceX founder Elon Musk pushing for a renewed focus on Mars, may shift the direction of the Artemis program, including the further use of SLS rockets, prompting the potential layoffs from Boeing. The layoffs would affect the core stage manufacturing at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans as well as Boeing jobs in Florida at Kennedy Space Center. Details on how many jobs in Florida may be affected were not provided. Boeing already announced 141 layoffs amid its Florida operations that were part of intentions announced in 2024 to lay off 10% of about 170,000 employees nationwide. Those included 26 at KSC offices, where its Starliner spacecraft is manufactured, and another 20 in Titusville, the home of Boeing's Space and Launch Division headquarters.
USA Today
10-02-2025
- Business
- USA Today
What we know: Boeing expects more Florida layoffs, NASA's SLS future remains unknown
Boeing informed its employees working on NASA's Artemis program that it was preparing for as many as 400 layoffs connected to the giant rocket under development amid possible shakeups to the country's return-to-the-moon initiative, the company said. Employees working on NASA's Space Launch System rocket received the warning just days ago. Around 400 employees will receive a 60-day layoff notice, as required by the WARN Act. "To align with revisions to the Artemis program and cost expectations, today we informed our Space Launch Systems team of the potential for approximately 400 fewer positions by April 2025," Boeing said in a statement to FLORIDA TODAY. "This will require 60-day notices of involuntary layoff be issued to impacted employees in coming weeks, in accordance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. We are working with our customer and seeking opportunities to redeploy employees across our company to minimize job losses and retain our talented teammates." Boeing has employees working on the SLS program in both Alabama and here in Brevard County − most notably on the SLS rocket being stacked inside NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. As of Monday, Boeing had not revealed the exact number of employees expected to be impacted, which positions might be cut or how it would impact future Artemis missions. This is not the first time Boeing has had a large space-related layoff. Back in November, some 141 Florida employees were laid off. It's unclear what this could mean for the future of the Artemis program, which is behind schedule and widely over budget. This comes as a new administration under President Donald Trump has vowed to cut government costs, and with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk having a powerful role in that effort. Some have speculated that SpaceX's Starship, which has seen its own trouble, could be tapped as a replacement for SLS. When asked for comment, NASA gave the following statement to FLORIDA TODAY: "NASA's SLS (Space Launch System) rocket is an essential component of the agency's Artemis campaign. NASA and its industry partners continuously work together to evaluate and align budget, resources, contractor performance, and schedules to execute mission requirements efficiently, safely, and successfully in support of NASA's Moon to Mars goals and objectives. NASA defers to its industry contractors for more information regarding their workforces." 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 more than 50 years. But the Artemis effort is already overbudget with spending on the program projected to reach $93 billion through 2025. And contractors like Boeing keep running into further delays, such as setbacks with the rocket's Block 1B upper-stage which will be used for Artemis IV and beyond to build the Gateway space station in lunar orbit. As FLORIDA TODAY previously reported, this delay added to the total cost of the Boeing upper stage, raising it to $5.7 billion — $700 million more than NASA anticipated. It also added years to the schedule. The goal of Gateway was to be a launching point for further lunar exploration — and the road to Mars. The plan called for SpaceX's Starship to dock to the Gateway and provide transportation to and from the lunar surface post-Artemis III. Being so over-budget and riddled with delay, SLS's feasibility came under question beyond Artemis II and III. The rocket for Aramis II, which will ferry astronauts around the moon no earlier than 2026, is currently standing inside NASA's VAB. Artemis III will be NASA's long-awaited return to the moon. However, going beyond that, Boeing's more powerful Block IB will need to be ready to support Gateway. And there's competition. SpaceX is already eagerly eyeing Mars, with plans to send an uncrewed Starship to the planet in late 2026. A crewed mission would follow. If SpaceX holds to this timeline, which is ambitious, it would put Starship years ahead of the long-term goal of Artemis. And if multiple Starships can make it to the moon by 2026 — and less costly than SLS — why not just use it instead, space experts have asked. While SLS has launched once after more than a decade of planning, SpaceX continues to launch and improve its Starship with seven full scale launches under their belt. "If you can launch Starship a whole bunch of times from the surface of the Earth to Earth orbit, and a Starship can be refueled in orbit, and go fly to the vicinity of the moon, and then fly from lunar orbit down to the surface of the moon ... why don't you just launch the people on Starship from the very beginning?" James Muncy, founder of PoliSpace, a space policy organization, previously told FLORIDA TODAY. And it was just last month during his inauguration speech that President Trump spoke of the ambitious goal of American astronauts on Mars. Musk, who has been appointed to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, cheered in response. While it has made progress, Starship is still in the testing phases with flights out of Texas. SpaceX keeps pushing the design to its limit — as seen last month when a Starship broke apart over the Turks and Caicos Islands shortly after launch. Now with the wait for a new NASA administrator, even more unknowns remain. Trump has tapped billionaire businessman Jared Isaacman, who led two private SpaceX crewed missions, to run NASA. When is the next Florida rocket launch?Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, NASA rocket launch schedule at Cape Canaveral What is Boeing's role in NASA's Space Launch System? Delayed until no earlier than Spring 2026, NASA's Artemis II will ferry astronauts around the moon. Artemis I launched uncrewed in late 2022, but issues with the Orion spacecraft's heatshield caused delays in upcoming missions. Orion is being constructed under contract by Lockheed Martin. Boeing works on the rocket's core stage, but that has not been the source of the delay to Artemis II. "The vehicle was proved out on Artemis I. It was a terrific mission. Really no issues with the boosters core stage, everything preformed as we expected it to. So there's really not a lot of change for Artemis II on the flight vehicle itself," John Shannon, vice president of Boeing's Exploration Systems, said during an Artemis panel at the 2025 SpaceCom convention in late January. Where Boeing's latest issues emerged were with the Block 1B Exploration upper-stage of the rocket for Artemis IV and beyond. These issues were highlighted during an Office of Inspector General report in August last year. Besides lack of employee training, it was found that 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 at the earliest, anticipating keeping Boeing's employees working on the project on for several years more than planned. It remains to be seen if this is the area where the approximately 400 employees will be cut, and if they are, what that will mean for Artemis overall. Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@ or on X: @brookeofstars.
