NASA confirms the postponement of the first flight of the Space Launch System until 2019

NASA fails to launch its new rocket Space Launch System in 2018. The space agency has confirmed that the first launch cannot take place until a year later due to technical problems.

A NASA official has confirmed in a letter that the Space Launch System, or SLS, is experiencing delays, Ars Technica found. In doing so, the organization is responding to a report drawn up by a supervisory committee. In its response, NASA calls a launch in 2018 “not in the interest” of the space program, and the space agency states that it is working on a deadline that is in 2019.

Furthermore, NASA confirms that there are technical problems with the development of the SLS. What those are was not explained, but the space agency does state that the conclusions from the report of the monitoring committee are ‘valid’. The committee reported, among other things, problems in the development of the required software and cracks in the first stage of the SLS.

NASA is still investigating whether it is possible to fly astronauts on the first test flight of the SLS. The US government had asked to investigate this possibility, due to ambitions to organize the first manned space flight before 2020. NASA wants to give a definite answer about the possibilities within a few weeks.

The launch in 2018 had also already come about after delays. Initially, NASA wanted to launch the SLS years earlier, but problems in development always caused delays. The intention is that the launcher should eventually ensure that the Orion space capsule can take people to Mars, but this will probably take another ten years.