The Government Accountability Office noted an improvement in the overall cost performance of 16 projects in NASA’s pipeline, with cost overruns declining from $12 billion in 2022 to $7.6 billion in 2023.
In its fifteenth annual assessment of major NASA projects, the government watchdog attributed last year’s cost growth to launches of the James Webb Space Telescope and other missions, which require significant spending.
GAO’s study covered Artemis major projects in the formulation and implementation phase, as well as non-Artemis missions including the Dragonfly rotocraft exploration of Saturn’s moon, and the On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing I satellite refueling program.
While the Webb Space Telescope incurred $4.5 billion in cost overruns in 2022, expenditures have not grown this year following its launch. The Space Launch System and Orion Multipurpose Crew Vehicle had consistent overruns in 2022 and 2023, valued at $2.7 billion and $2.5 billion, respectively.
Twelve of the 16 projects have experienced delays in schedule, which is contributing to cumulative cost performance.
GAO has given multiple recommendations to address gaps in NASA’s management of major projects. NASA has not followed 16 of the recommendations, but it has made efforts to improve performance, such as earlier acquisition strategy planning and discussion.
