A history. I’d dispute this, though:

“Humans are pretty needy,” Lyles told me. “You’re taking water, you’re taking all of their environmental control systems, and whatever they need on a really long mission. A large, heavy launch vehicle is almost a no-brainer.”

NASA is not alone in this conclusion. During a two-week span last month, private companies SpaceX and Blue Origin both unveiled giant, SLS-scale launchers that will become key parts of their future spaceflight aspirations.

One of these things is not like the others. SpaceX and Blue Origin want to build big rockets because they plan to put thousands of people into space. NASA is doing it because Congress wants to keep thousands employed in the right zip codes (as the article makes clear).