https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-20-224.pdf
The JWST program has a history of significant schedule delays and project cost increases, which resulted in both the 2011 and 2018 replans. Prior to approving the project’s development, cost estimates for JWST ranged from $1 billion to $3.5 billion, with expected launch dates ranging from 2007 to 2011. Due to early technical and management challenges, contractor performance issues, and low levels of cost reserve, the JWST program experienced schedule overruns, launch delays, and cost growth. The program underwent a replan in September 2011 and then a rebaseline; further, Congress placed an $8 billion cap on the formulation and development costs for the project.
However, in June 2018, after a series of launch delay announcements due to technical and workmanship issues identified during spacecraft element integration, NASA notified Congress that it had revised the JWST program’s cost and schedule estimates again. NASA estimated that it would now require $828 million in additional resources over the program’s lifecycle and 29 more months beyond the estimates agreed to in the 2011 rebaseline to complete the project. Since the project’s costs and schedule were baselined in 2009, costs have increased by 95 percent and its launch date has been delayed by over 6.5 years.
The JWST program has a history of significant schedule delays and project cost increases, which resulted in both the 2011 and 2018 replans. Prior to approving the project’s development, cost estimates for JWST ranged from $1 billion to $3.5 billion, with expected launch dates ranging from 2007 to 2011. Due to early technical and management challenges, contractor performance issues, and low levels of cost reserve, the JWST program experienced schedule overruns, launch delays, and cost growth. The program underwent a replan in September 2011 and then a rebaseline; further, Congress placed an $8 billion cap on the formulation and development costs for the project.
However, in June 2018, after a series of launch delay announcements due to technical and workmanship issues identified during spacecraft element integration, NASA notified Congress that it had revised the JWST program’s cost and schedule estimates again. NASA estimated that it would now require $828 million in additional resources over the program’s lifecycle and 29 more months beyond the estimates agreed to in the 2011 rebaseline to complete the project. Since the project’s costs and schedule were baselined in 2009, costs have increased by 95 percent and its launch date has been delayed by over 6.5 years.
