# Space Launch System (SLS) costs

What is a good estimate for SLS' annual fixed cost and variable per flight cost? What references are used for these costs?

I've seen uncited figures of $1B+/launch variable cost. Wikipedia quotes a NASA deputy project manager as saying that$500M/launch is a target. This seems low as the Delta IV Heavy used in the Orion test launch was in that range.

Other estimates cited on Wikipedia range up to $1.9B/launch. • An unknown is flight rate and how many SLS rockets would be made. The development costs would be amortized over the number of rockets made. For example if development costs were \$30 billion and there were a total of 10 launches, each rockets would bear \$3 billion in development costs. Jan 24 '15 at 3:53 • Right. That's why I asked for fixed and variable cost components. Cheers. – Erik Jan 24 '15 at 3:54 • Here is John Strickland's estimate: thespacereview.com/article/2330/1 although I've heard SLS apologists saying he's overly pessimistic on the variable cost components. Jan 24 '15 at 12:44 • Didn't that Delta IV Heavy + Orion cost include the cost of the Orion itself, not just the launch? Jan 24 '15 at 13:15 • Nope. \$500m for just the ride. The Air Force recently paid \$1.74B for 4 Delta IV Heavy launches too. – Erik Jan 24 '15 at 14:01 ## 1 Answer Wikipedia states \$500 million per launch, with this citation. The development budget is $18 billion (\$10 billion for the actual SLS rocket), and that is a more reliable number as it is a budget. However, a development budget is always a lower limit. This site for instance, provides an total development cost estimate of \$35 billion. The space review says \$1 billion per launch, \$1.5 billion if development costs are included. Their citation is this study • Hi @Hohmannfan, any update on the total development cost? I know that US gov released further$5 billion last March to NASA for SLS and Orion May 24 '18 at 12:28
• It has eaten a few extra billions, but there are no big changes. As there are many years left before we have flight ready hardware the end result is still not easy to predict. May 24 '18 at 16:05