It looks like the “two-phase” approach to the Senate Launch System, which would have resulted in a rocket that flew only four times for billions per flight, is dead. The problem is, they still have to operate within the absurd design constraints imposed by the porkers on the Hill.
2 thoughts on “NASA Comes To Its Senses”
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I’m torn on this one. While I’d hate to have NASA waste $10 billion building a useless rocket, this whole “practice SLS” idea was so absurd that it might have kept them from wasting even more money on it.
Mike
Well, they’re still doing the practice SLS, they’re just requiring that it be “evolvable” to the full 130 ton design to meet the requirements of the law.
The news here is that they’ve stopped pretending there is ever going to be an open competition.