One audit, she estimated, took about 1,100 hours.
NAC-HEO ends early. Artemis is behind schedule, over cost, uncertain path forward on Orion heat shield, big problems w/ML-2 and Block IB, and their draft recs/findings are there should be fewer audits and they want to know more about NASA's 2040 plan.
Mobile launcher 2 now stands approximately 240 feet tall and will grow another 150 feet as teams continue stacking...
NASA’s mobile launcher 2 team, led by contractor Bechtel National Inc., integrated Module 7 onto the mobile launcher under construction near the Vehicle Assembly Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, April 23, 2025. Each module is 40 feet tall and once complete will rise to 390 feet to provide ground support to launch for the SLS (Space Launch System) Block 1B variant rocket during launch of the Artemis IV mission.Date Created:2025-04-23
The tower of NASA’s mobile launcher 2 continues to rise with the addition of two new 40-foot-tall modules on April 22 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mobile launcher 2 team, led by Bechtel National Inc., has integrated modules 6 and 7, which are the third and fourth of seven sections that will form the mobile launcher’s almost 400-foot-tall tower structure. The mobile launcher currently is under construction next to the spaceport’s iconic Vehicle Assembly Building.Module 6 is designed to support the vehicle stabilizer, an interface that helps reduce motion of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket during rollout to the launch pad, in high wind events, and during launch countdown. The stabilizer will drop away from the larger SLS Block 1 B rocket at liftoff and is designed to support future SLS configurations and their varying load requirements.Module 7 is the tower’s payload accommodation subsystem which will serve as the interface between SLS payloads and NASA Kennedy’s Launch Control Center, allowing the launch team to monitor, test, and issue commands to the SLS rocket and Orion flight hardware. Located within an air-conditioned steel shell and protected by launch-rated shock isolators, this subsystem also will provide payload access for personnel during pre- and post-launch operations.Once complete, mobile launcher 2 will reach 390 feet and provide the support needed for the addition of the SLS Exploration Upper Stage for the Block 1B configuration of the rocket that will launch beginning with the Artemis IV mission.
16:48back at KSC mobile launcher 2 Primecontractor Becttel lifted the fifth ofseven umbilical tower modules into placethis past week module 8something that was also noted but wedon't have any way of showing is thatBecttel also lifted the core stageforward skirt umbilical arm for thissecond mobile launcher into place on thetower
Why is Bechtel going faster all of a sudden?
Bechtel was initially contracted to design,build, and test the ML-2 for $383 million and deliver it to NASA by March 2023. However, the contractvalue has nearly tripled to $1.1 billion and the delivery date has been delayed by more than 3 years toMay 2026.Cost and schedule estimates from both NASA and Bechtel for the ML-2 contract have changed severaltimes and increased significantly over time. NASA’s lack of an official baseline for the first 5 years of theML-2 project has limited visibility into its potential total cost and the information needed for Congressand others to better hold the Agency accountable. In June 2024, NASA established a commitment toCongress for a total ML-2 project cost of $1.8 billion and a delivery date of September 2027. We project,however, that the ML-2’s total cost could reach $2.7 billion by the time Bechtel delivers the launcher toNASA in 2027.NASA officials are encouraged by recent progress as ML-2 project management reports the design isnearly complete and the frame of the base structure and first tower module are complete. Whileofficials expect cost growth to lessen over time now that Bechtel has started construction of thelauncher, it is too soon to tell if these developments will have an impact on the overall cost growth andschedule delays.
NASA will close out Mobile Launcher-2 development, as ML-2 will not be needed to support SLS due to the orderly shutdown of the SLS Block 1B upgrade. NASA proposes to use previously appropriated unobligated balances to support the termination of these activities, including but not limited to, ongoing administration, oversight, and monitoring
The FY26 PBR cancels ML-2.QuoteNASA will close out Mobile Launcher-2 development, as ML-2 will not be needed to support SLS due to the orderly shutdown of the SLS Block 1B upgrade. NASA proposes to use previously appropriated unobligated balances to support the termination of these activities, including but not limited to, ongoing administration, oversight, and monitoring [Pg. EXP-19 / Sheet 45]
