Space Transportation: The Content and Uses of Shuttle Cost Estimates
NSIAD-93-115
Published: Jan 28, 1993. Publicly Released: Mar 02, 1993.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) estimates of the space shuttle's average cost per flight and marginal cost per flight, focusing on: (1) the costs NASA included or excluded from each estimate; and (2) how NASA should allocate these costs to payload missions that are transported to space in the shuttle.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | Although NASA should continue to use marginal cost per flight estimates to allocate shuttle transportation costs to payload missions that are only occasional users of the shuttle, the Administrator, NASA, should use the average cost per flight when calculating shuttle transportation costs for the Space Station Freedom program during those years when the station is the predominant user of shuttle capabilities. |
NASA has rejected the recommendation. NASA believes that even with the use of the shuttle by the Space Station Freedom program, the shuttle would still fly six to eight missions a year. Therefore, the programs are mutually exclusive and only the cost of the incremental use of the shuttle by the space station program should be recognized. GAO rejected this position in its response to NASA in NSIAD-93-187 and NSIAD-93-208, both dated May 18, 1993.
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Aerospace researchCost analysisCost controlCost overrunsFuture budget projectionsLife cycle costsReporting requirementsResearch and development costsSpace explorationTransportation costs