Boeing to lay off about 200 workers in megarocket program

Arlington County-based Fortune Global 500 aerospace and defense giant Boeing plans to lay off about 200 employees working on NASA’s Space Launch System program in anticipation of potential program cuts or cancellation.

The company previously expected to eliminate about 400 positions in the program by April, according to Bloomberg, but now plans to keep roughly half of those after talks with NASA.

NASA’s $24 billion SLS program is developing a super-heavy lift rocket being used in its Artemis program to send astronauts back to the moon.

The SLS program is receiving heightened scrutiny under the new presidential administration. Six space industry representatives advising billionaire Elon Musk and President Donald Trump told Reuters they wanted the program canceled or phased out over several years.

Trump’s administration could propose ending the program in its next budget proposal, although Congress determines the program’s federal funding appropriation. The House of Representatives and Senate are currently moving forward with different budget resolutions, which will require reconciliation before a budget resolution can be sent to Trump.

David Dutcher, Boeing Space Launch System (SLS) vice president and program manager, told employees working on the program on Feb. 7 that the company was preparing for layoffs in case NASA does not renew its contracts with Boeing, according to Ars Technica.

According to a letter sent Feb. 12 by Dutcher and seen by Bloomberg, Boeing will send 60-day layoff notices to fewer than 200 employees.

“As Boeing and NASA continue to finalize contract revisions for Boeing’s work on the Space Launch System program, we have successfully mitigated a majority of the previously announced workforce reductions,” Boeing said in a statement. “While Boeing is committed to supporting NASA’s Artemis missions … workforce adjustments are still necessary to drive efficiency and cost effectiveness on the program.

“We will redeploy teammates where possible,” the statement continued, “but expect to proceed with fewer than 200 involuntary layoffs.”

Congress directed NASA to develop the SLS rocket in 2011 to replace the Space Shuttle. During Trump’s first administration, he signed a policy directive to send astronauts back to the moon, leading to the Artemis program’s formation.

Boeing and Falls Church-based Fortune Global 500 defense contractor Northrop Grumman are the primary contractors for the SLS program.

The program has suffered delays and growing costs. From 2011 to 2022, development of the SLS cost $23.8 billion. Each rocket launch costs more than $2 billion, and the rockets are not reusable.

Musk’s Space X, meanwhile, is developing Starship, a less powerful but cheaper and reusable rocket. And Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is introducing New Glenn, another reusable and cheaper but less powerful rocket.

The first SLS rocket launched in November 2022 in an uncrewed test flight of the rocket components and systems as part of Artemis I, which was originally scheduled to launch by the end of 2016.

Various aspects of the rocket’s production for the Artemis II mission, scheduled for April 2026, are underway, according to Dutcher’s email to employees.

In a statement, NASA called the SLS rocket an “essential component” of the Artemis mission.

“NASA and its industry partners continuously work together to evaluate and align budget, resources, contractor performance, and schedules to execute mission requirements efficiently, safely, and successfully in support of NASA’s Moon to Mars goals and objectives,” the agency said in the statement.

Boeing previously was expected to layoff about 10% of its 170,000-person workforce by January, including 68 employees across Virginia by Jan. 17. The company did not directly answer a request for confirmation of the 10% workforce reduction.

Boeing did not directly answer where the affected employees in the SLS program are located, but its SLS program is managed out of its Space and Launch division in Huntsville, Alabama, and the program has employees there, at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, and “at other Boeing sites and suppliers across the country.”

Boeing announced it would move its corporate headquarters from Chicago to Arlington in May 2022. The contracting behemoth has so far resisted talk of moving its headquarters from Arlington to Seattle, where Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg has located to be near the company’s troubled commercial aircraft division.