NASA OIG Finds Big Problems With The NASA Artemis Supply Chain

Keith’s note: I am not sure that this is the sort of news you want to hear when Artemis (SLS) costs continue to mount, missions are delayed, and exploration cadence is disrupted – all while overall NASA budgets are being squeezed. How do you do a “sustainable” program of lunar exploration when your supply chain is not working – before you even start putting people on the lunar surface? According to a new NASA OIG report NASA’s Management of the Artemis Supply Chain: “Most importantly, the Agency lacks visibility into its critical suppliers with many Artemis programs and projects not tracking their prime contractors’ supply chain impacts. Even when issues with subcontractors and suppliers are identified, performance challenges are not shared across Artemis teams to enable effective procurement decisions. Moreover, we found that NASA’s Logistics Management Division (LMD) – which could be a useful resource to help plan for supply chain issues – is not utilized by Artemis programs and projects. … Two internal collaborative efforts at NASA – the Supply Chain Resiliency Forum and the Holistic Agency Study – were designed to improve NASA’s understanding of its supply chain issues. The Forum convenes representatives from across the Agency to coordinate supply chain-related activities, but the group has not yet finalized an official charter. The Holistic Agency Study, conducted by the Office of Technology, Policy and Strategy and the Office of the Chief Engineer, took place from late 2021 to 2023. The group used a broad survey of NASA stakeholders to examine supply chain issues and related management issues across the Agency. Initial results of the study show that supply chain issues at NASA are usually a surprise to the Agency, with mitigation therefore reactive rather than proactive. However, none of these collaborative efforts to date have significantly improved NASA’s visibility into its Artemis supply chain.”