Cancel the Space Launch System

I am generally a big fan of government spending for science and space exploration, but there are exceptions, and the NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) is one of them. The SLS, based on outdated and un-reusable Shuttle technology that was designed in the 1970s, is a boondoggle that, over more than 10 years, has cost more than 20 billion dollars and has yet to fly. 

Now that there is a new administration in power, funding for the SLS program may be jeopardy, especially since much cheaper private alternatives are being developed and actually flown. Mainstream news organizations like Bloomberg are beginning to question the reason for its existence.

Supposing the SLS were to magically get back on track tomorrow, its underlying rationale would still make little sense. One could make the debatable case that returning to the moon will be a useful (albeit expensive) precursor to deeper-space missions in the years to come. But no such mission is realistically on the horizon. And relying on a hugely expensive single-use rocket to establish “a sustainable human lunar presence” — as NASA intends — when cheap and reusable commercial options will soon be available makes no sense.

No doubt, the era of government spacefaring had its glories. But space is now a $424 billion business, with U.S. companies at its forefront. The new administration should embrace this revolution — and bring the power of private enterprise to bear in crossing the next cosmic frontier.

Personally, I would like to see a complete reassessment of NASA's plans for lunar exploration. I want to see human presence on the moon, preferably in the form of a permanent base. The Artemis program, in its current form, makes little sense. Scrap the Lunar Gateway space station and concentrate on getting as much tonnage and people on the moon as possible, using reusable boosters and spacecraft produced by companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin.