CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — Boeing announced Tuesday that it plans to lay off about 400 of its employees who are working on NASA’s Artemis moon rocket.

“To align with revisions to the Artemis program and cost expectations, we informed our Space Launch Systems team of the potential for approximately 400 fewer positions by April 2025,” stated Boeing in a press statement to Spectrum News.

Boeing is required to give a 60-day notification of the layoffs in accordance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.

“We are working with our customer and seeking opportunities to redeploy employees across our company to minimize job losses and retain our talented teammates,” Boeing added.

The Space Launch Systems rocket and the Orion spacecraft are designed to send humans back to the moon under the Artemis program. The Artemis II program will send people back to the moon to orbit it, while Artemis III will see the first woman and person of color to walk on the moon’s surface.

In November 2022, NASA launched the uncrewed Artemis I to the moon, and it was a test of the Orion’s and SLS’s systems and hardware.

In July 2024, the 212-foot-tall rocket’s SLS core stage for the Artemis II mission was delivered to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

This latest notice was followed by Boeing's announcement in December 2024 of 141 positions being laid off in various locations across the state, including the Space Coast.

Fate of SLS moon rocket unknown

Neither Boeing nor NASA answered Spectrum News’ questions about what this would mean for the SLS rocket or if it would be used for the future Artemis missions or if another rocket would be used entirely.

In a press release to Spectrum News, NASA stated the rocket is “essential” to the Artemis mission.

“NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket is an essential component of the agency’s Artemis campaign. NASA and its industry partners continuously work together to evaluate and align budget, resources, contractor performance, and schedules to execute mission requirements efficiently, safely, and successfully in support of NASA’s Moon to Mars goals and objectives,” stated the U.S. space agency.

In December 2024, then-NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced that the Artemis II and III missions were pushed back again to 2026 and 2027, respectively.

He said the reason for the new launch dates were due to astronaut safety. During re-entry of the Artemis I’s Orion spacecraft, its heatshield tiles did not hold up as well as expected.

According to a 2024 NASA Office of Inspector General report, the cost of the Artemis program and the SLS rocket itself runs well into the billions.

“From fiscal years 2012 through 2025, NASA’s overall Artemis investment is projected to reach $93 billion, of which the SLS Program costs represent $23.8 billion spent through 2022,” the 56-page report stated.

However, during that press conference two months ago, Nelson also stressed the importance that the Artemis III moon landing happens before China’s planned crewed mission to Earth’s lunar sister in 2030.

He wants to get there before China does because of the possible presence of frozen water, which can be used for fuel for rockets and humans have something to drink.

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