BGR by Joshua Hawkins 12/18/2022
NASA’s Space Launch System just completed the first leg of the Artemis I mission, delivering one of the most promising space exploration missions to the stars. But just because it succeeded doesn’t make it the most sustainable option. In fact, according to NASA’s cost and plans for the Artemis missions, the NASA SLS rocket isn’t actually sustainable at all.
According to information shared earlier this year, NASA’s SLS rocket costs over $4 billion to build, and because it isn’t reusable, every mission that NASA carries out with the system will cost that amount to build the rocket. This isn’t taking into account the other man-hours needed to get the rocket into the air, either.
Nor is it taking into account the massive amount of damage that NASA’s SLS rocket does to the launch pad, something we saw just last month when the first Artemis mission launched. Adding all of those costs on, plus the addition of changing prices over the coming years, and we’re looking at some very expensive missions.
More:
https://bgr.com/science/why-nasas-space-launch-system-isnt-sustainable/
