Report: NASA's major projects busting budgets, schedules
Source: Associated Press
Report: NASA’s major projects busting budgets, schedules
By MARCIA DUNN
May 30, 2019
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s major projects are busting budgets and schedules like never before, according to a congressional watchdog agency.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office reported Thursday that NASA’s major projects are more than 27 percent over baseline costs and the average launch delay is 13 months. That’s the largest schedule delay since the GAO began assessing NASA’s major projects 10 years ago.
The still-in-development James Webb Space Telescope is the major offender. The projected launch date for this advanced successor to the Hubble Space Telescope is now 2021, with an estimated $9.6 billion price tag, the GAO noted. Its original target launch date was 2007, with initial cost estimates as low as $1 billion.
NASA’s yet-to-fly mega rocket, the Space Launch System, also faces big cost overruns because of production challenges and, likely, even more launch delays.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/6d40773a7fa940198f159e53c2adba46
