Boeing (BA.US) slashes 400 jobs to cut costs as NASA's moon landing program delays drive up expenses.

Boeing (BA.US) announced on February 7 that it plans to lay off about 400 positions from its Space Launch System (SLS) team by April 2025, in response to changes in NASA's Artemis program and cost expectations. The layoffs are intended to align with the Artemis program's adjustments. Boeing said it will send involuntary layoff notices to affected employees within the next few weeks, with a 60-day notice period. A company spokesperson emphasized that Boeing is working with its customers to find opportunities to redeploy employees to minimize the layoffs. The Artemis program is a major space exploration project led by NASA, aiming to return astronauts to the moon by 2025 and lay the groundwork for future Mars missions. The program is estimated to cost $93 billion by 2025. However, it has faced numerous challenges since its inception, including significant delays and rising costs. The Artemis 2 crewed lunar orbiting mission has been delayed from the end of 2024 to September 2025, and the first astronaut landing mission, Artemis 3, has been delayed from the end of 2025 to September 2026.