Boeing informs employees that NASA may cancel Space Launch System contract, plans massive job cuts
Boeing has informed its employees that NASA may cancel SLS contracts - Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/02/boeing-has-informed-its-employees-that-nasa-may-cancel-sls-contracts/
According to information obtained by technology media Ars Technica from related parties, on Friday, February 7, 2025 (local time), Boeing Vice President and SLS Program Manager David Dutcher convened a meeting with all 800 employees involved in the SLS.
During the meeting, Dutcher said that NASA and Boeing's SLS contract could end in March 2025, and that they are preparing to cut staff in case the contract is not renewed. The meeting lasted just six minutes, and Dutcher did not answer any questions.
The reason Boeing held such a meeting is apparently because it believes the Trump administration may propose canceling the SLS launch as part of its March 2025 budget proposal, Ars Technica reports.
The reason Boeing, the prime contractor for the SLS's large core stage, notified employees of the potential job cuts is because the United States has a law called the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act , which requires U.S. employers with 100 or more full-time employees to notify employees 60 days in advance of mass layoffs or factory closures.
When Ars Technica contacted Boeing about this matter, a spokesperson said, 'Today, we notified the SLS team that we may reduce our workforce by approximately 400 people by April 2025 to align with revised Artemis program and cost projections.' 'In accordance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, we will be required to issue 60 days of mandatory layoff notice to affected employees within the next few weeks. We will work with our customers to explore opportunities to redeploy employees across the company to minimize job losses and retain talented teammates.'
NASA explains in a movie the details of the 'Artemis Project' to send humanity back to the moon - GIGAZINE
According to multiple sources, there have been lively discussions between the White House and senior NASA officials about the future of the SLS and the Artemis program, with some private space industry advocates urging the SLS to be scrapped altogether, but NASA Acting Administrator Janet Petro is reportedly pushing for the White House's permission to use an early version of the SLS to launch the Artemis 2 and Artemis 3 missions before the program is canceled.
In the United States, NASA began development of the SLS in 2011. The SLS uses the main engine and side-mounted boosters of the Space Shuttle, but the first launch of the SLS, which was originally scheduled for the end of 2016, was not until the end of 2022. SLS critics sometimes criticize the development contractors for intentionally delaying development in order to siphon off large amounts of money from the government.
Until now, NASA has spent a huge amount of money, about $3 billion (about 450 billion yen) per year, on the development of SLS. However, in recent years, attention has been paid to rockets developed by private space development companies, with SpaceX developing two large rockets in the past decade and Blue Origin successfully launching its own rocket, New Glenn . Both of these rockets are 'reusable rockets' that can reuse some parts, and have the advantage of being able to launch at less than one-tenth the cost of SLS.
Meanwhile, NASA has focused on developing the SLS rather than low-cost rockets such as SpaceX because, as of 2018, it explained that the SLS has a high ability to transport supplies to the lunar transfer orbit, which leaves Earth's orbit and heads to the Moon.
Why is NASA investing so much money in developing its own SLS rocket instead of using SpaceX's low-cost rockets?
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