NASA Program Costs: Space Missions Require Substantially More Funding Than Initially Estimated

Abstract

This report responds to the Chairman's request that we provide information on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) historical experience at estimating space program costs. The Subcommittee was concerned that at the time Congress is asked to authorize the start of new programs estimated to cost hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars, NASA may not have reasonably accurate estimates of their total funding requirements. Specifically, we reviewed the changes from initial to current estimates for major space programs initiated in the past 15 years and studied the reasons for those changes.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1992
Accession Number
ADA262896

Entities

People

  • Mark E. Gebicke

Organizations

  • United States Government Accountability Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Artificial Satellites
  • Congress
  • Contractors
  • Cost Estimates
  • Data Analysis
  • Earth Sciences
  • Engineers
  • House Of Representatives
  • Jet Propulsion
  • Launch Vehicles
  • Observatories
  • Propulsion Systems
  • Space Shuttles
  • Space Stations
  • Spacecraft
  • Vehicles
  • X Rays

Readers

  • Aerospace Engineering.
  • Government and Public Administration Law.
  • Regression Analysis.

Technology Areas

  • Space