NASA has cancelled the delayed Checkout Launch and Control System (CLCS), intended to replace the 30-year-old Launch Processing System, because it is over budget and still three years from introduction.
CLCS was intended to control the processing, testing and launch of space vehicles at the Kennedy Space Center.
NASA's decision to cancel the project is seen as a move to make the agency more accountable. By 2005, when CLCS would have entered service, it was predicted to be more than $300 million over budget. Analysis suggested it would cost $15 million a year more to run than the present system.
NASA is expected to retain the Launch Processing System, which has been systematically upgraded since the 1980s.
Source: Flight International