(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)Bridenstine’s announcement prompted critics of the program to question whether NASA truly needs a government-owned heavy-lift rocket. John Shannon, Boeing’s SLS program manager, said the company acknowledges widespread problems but recently has shown progress. A quartet of powerful senators who have NASA space bases in their states — Shelby, Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) Solid rocket boosters for the Space Launch System will be stacked at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. Then, on a second commercial rocket, NASA would launch a propulsion module.

Source: Washington Post March 22, 2019 12:33 UTC