ARS Technica by Eric Berger - 7/10/2024
Because I'm tall enough, I'm orange enough, and doggone it, Senators like me.There is a curious section in the new congressional reauthorization bill for NASA that concerns the agency's large Space Launch System rocket.
The section is titled "Reaffirmation of the Space Launch System," and in it Congress asserts its commitment to a flight rate of twice per year for the rocket. The reauthorization legislation, which cleared a House committee on Wednesday, also said NASA should identify other customers for the rocket.
"The Administrator shall assess the demand for the Space Launch System by entities other than NASA and shall break out such demand according to the relevant Federal agency or nongovernment sector," the legislation states.
Congress directs NASA to report back, within 180 days of the legislation passing, on several topics. First, the legislators want an update on NASA's progress toward achieving a flight rate of twice per year for the SLS rocket, and the Artemis mission by which this capability will be in place.
Additionally, Congress is asking for NASA to study demand for the SLS rocket and estimate "cost and schedule savings for reduced transit times" for deep space missions due to the "unique capabilities" of the rocket. The space agency also must identify any "barriers or challenges" that could impede use of the rocket by other entities other than NASA, and estimate the cost of overcoming those barriers.
More:
https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/07/congress-apparently-feels-a-need-for-reaffirmation-of-sls-rocket/
