Boeing says it will cut SLS workforce “due to external factors”

Enlarge / The SLS rocket is seen on its launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in August 2022. (credit: Trevor Mahlmann)

On Thursday senior Boeing officials leading the Space Launch System program, including David Dutcher and Steve Snell, convened an all-hands meeting for the more than 1,000 employees who work on the rocket.

According to two people familiar with the meeting, the officials announced that there would be a significant number of layoffs and reassignments of people working on the program. They offered a handful of reasons for the cuts, including the fact that timelines for NASA’s Artemis lunar missions that will use the SLS rocket are slipping to the right.

Later on Thursday, in a statement provided to Ars, a Boeing spokesperson confirmed the cuts to Ars: “Due to external factors unrelated to our program performance, Boeing is reviewing and adjusting current staffing levels on the Space Launch System program.”