NASA Investigation Finds Boeing Hindering Americans’ Return to Moon

A report from the space agency’s office of the inspector general pins the blame on the aerospace giant’s mismanagement and inexperienced workforce.

Jack Daleo

Friday, August 09, 2024 at 04:07 PM ET

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An artist’s illustration depicts NASA’s SLS Block 1B flying in crew configuration. [Courtesy: NASA]

Key Takeaways:

A NASA Inspector General report blames Boeing for severe mismanagement and inadequate quality control in developing the Space Launch System (SLS) Block 1B's Exploration Upper Stage (EUS).
This has led to the EUS project's budget nearly tripling to an estimated $2.8 billion and its delivery being delayed by six years, potentially jeopardizing the 2028 Artemis IV crewed lunar mission.
The report highlights Boeing's inexperienced workforce, ineffective quality management, and recurrent quality control issues, yet NASA has declined to impose direct financial penalties, a decision the OIG criticized as inadequate.

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Mismanagement and inexperience on the part of Boeing are creating severe delays and expenditures for NASA’s efforts to return Americans to the moon, according to a new report from the agency’s office of the inspector general (OIG).

The 38-page document, released Wednesday, paints the manufacturer’s quality control practices as inadequate and its workforce as insufficiently trained, blaming it for cost increases and schedule delays in the development of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) Block 1B. Yet the space agency has neglected to punish Boeing financially for these flaws, arguing that doing so would run contrary to the terms of its contract.