If Congress actually cancels the SLS rocket, what happens next?
https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/05/if-congress-actually-cancels-the-sls-rocket-what-happens-next/
If Congress actually cancels the SLS rocket, what happens next?
https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/05/if-congress-actually-cancels-the-sls-rocket-what-happens-next/
13 Comments
I have a feeling esa will not be happy about that
I doubt congress will allow that to happen without gaining a new boondoggle project in return.
e: those comments are full of crazies. I guess you just can’t escape them.
After Obama canceled the Constellation Program and the Ares I rocket we got the Artemis Program and the SLS. Assuming we continue the trend, cancelling SLS will lead to cancelling the Artemis Program, then a year later a new downsized version with a new name will be funded, and a new iteration of the Artemis program that now plans to put Americans on the moon no later than 2040.
I suppose they could redesign everything around commercial launch vehicles, but Congress wouldn’t be happy about that. They want those SLS jobs in their district
We will save money and use it on a company that is worthwhile.
I am sure that SpaceX will be happy to get that money.
I mean, congress doesn’t give a fuck about space travel. They care about the SLS money being spent in their districts. So, it probably won’t be cancelled.
However, if it is cancelled, the easy fix is to get Starship a human rating and just get them there and back with the one vehicle. NASA would need to compromise on safety a bit (no abort system, for example), but that probably won’t be a big deal if it looks like China might pull off a landing.
Potentially, two decades of setback in the American space program, opening opportunities for China to get commercial contracts from half the world.
With the current expansion (worldwide, not in the USA probably) of space activity, it’s unwise to leave an exclusive monopoly to a private company -with a troublesome ownership- with no backup if something goes south with the company or a major flaw is discovered in their hardware.
China will land someone on the moon, establish a moon base before our country can recover from the short sighted bs of this administration.
Probably end up spending significantly more taxpayer money in the long run subsidizing SpaceX. None of the profits Musk would make off such an arraignment, I’m sure, would end up being donated back to the future campaigns of the people making this decision.
edit: Cynicism aside I do think there are a lot of benefits to public-private partnerships in space, I just wish that the opinions of the experts at NASA were given more weight than politicians.
Elon Elon Elon Elon
Elon Elon Elon Elon
Annnnnnnnd more Elon.
Back for more Elon?
Elon Elon Elon Elon Elon Elon Elon
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:
|Fewer Letters|More Letters|
|——-|———|—|
|[BO](/r/Space/comments/1klwg1g/stub/ms67vxd “Last usage”)|Blue Origin (*Bezos Rocketry*)|
|CST|(Boeing) Crew Space Transportation capsules|
| |Central Standard Time (UTC-6)|
|[EUS](/r/Space/comments/1klwg1g/stub/ms62h0v “Last usage”)|Exploration Upper Stage|
|[HLS](/r/Space/comments/1klwg1g/stub/ms6jj2n “Last usage”)|[Human Landing System](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_program#Human_Landing_System) (Artemis)|
|[ICPS](/r/Space/comments/1klwg1g/stub/ms62h0v “Last usage”)|Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage|
|[LEO](/r/Space/comments/1klwg1g/stub/ms6jj2n “Last usage”)|Low Earth Orbit (180-2000km)|
| |Law Enforcement Officer (most often mentioned during transport operations)|
|[NRHO](/r/Space/comments/1klwg1g/stub/ms6fakk “Last usage”)|Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit|
|[SLS](/r/Space/comments/1klwg1g/stub/ms6j5yv “Last usage”)|Space Launch System heavy-lift|
|[SRB](/r/Space/comments/1klwg1g/stub/ms6hc7n “Last usage”)|Solid Rocket Booster|
|[ULA](/r/Space/comments/1klwg1g/stub/ms6j5yv “Last usage”)|United Launch Alliance (Lockheed/Boeing joint venture)|
|Jargon|Definition|
|——-|———|—|
|[Starliner](/r/Space/comments/1klwg1g/stub/ms6fywt “Last usage”)|Boeing commercial crew capsule [CST-100](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_CST-100_Starliner)|
Decronym is now also available on Lemmy! Requests for support and new installations should be directed to the Contact address below.
—————-
^(10 acronyms in this thread; )[^(the most compressed thread commented on today)](/r/Space/comments/1kj0ndz)^( has 21 acronyms.)
^([Thread #11345 for this sub, first seen 13th May 2025, 22:08])
^[[FAQ]](http://decronym.xyz/) [^([Full list])](http://decronym.xyz/acronyms/Space) [^[Contact]](https://hachyderm.io/@Two9A) [^([Source code])](https://gistdotgithubdotcom/Two9A/1d976f9b7441694162c8)
China gets mooned! Well, they get to own the moon.
Really depends on what happens with Orion, in my opinion.
If they decide to keep Orion but cancel SLS, NASA may be able to transition to launching Orion into LEO on something like New Glenn and having an HLS-derived vehicle give it a boost out to NRHO, sort of like the Constellation EDS concept. This would effectively set the American beyond LEO crewed exploration effort back years vs. the current plan with SLS Block 1B, as the new architecture would need to be fully developed, crew rated, etc., but it wouldn’t necessarily be the end of Artemis entirely.
If Orion is also canceled, that would probably mean a total and complete end to all beyond LEO crewed missions until future administrations develop an Orion replacement, potentially decades later.