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 OIG report blames Boeing's mismanagement, inadequate quality control, and inexperienced workforce for severe delays and massive cost overruns in the Space Launch System (SLS) Block 1B rocket's Exploration Upper Stage (EUS) development for the Artemis IV lunar mission.
The EUS project's costs are projected to nearly triple its original budget, reaching $2.8 billion, contributing to overall SLS Block 1B costs exceeding $5.7 billion and potentially delaying the Artemis IV mission by six years.
Despite the OIG's recommendation to financially penalize Boeing for its repeated quality control failures, NASA has declined, opting instead to utilize existing contractual award fee provisions, a decision the OIG disputes.

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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.