Ding-dong! The Exploration Upper Stage is dead

"The Exploration Upper Stage upgrade was intended to allow the SLS rocket to launch not just the Orion spacecraft to the Moon, but large payloads alongside it. That the development of capable rockets by SpaceX, Blue Origin, and United Launch Alliance to deliver large cargo to the Moon rendered it obsolete mattered, for a long time, not at all."

"If the Exploration Upper Stage was anything, it was a survivor-a testament to the power of pork, and the value of political support from key southern senators in Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, and Florida."

"When Congress and NASA created the SLS rocket in 2011, they always intended the first launch or two to use an 'interim' upper stage, essentially a modified version of the Delta IV rocket's upper stage. But that rocket faced retirement (it was too expensive in the face of emerging competition), so NASA needed a more permanent upper stage."

NASA announced the cancellation of the Exploration Upper Stage, a Boeing project designed to enhance the Space Launch System rocket's capability to launch the Orion spacecraft and large payloads to the Moon. Contracted over a decade ago, the upper stage became obsolete as competing companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and United Launch Alliance developed capable cargo delivery systems. The project's survival depended largely on political support from southern senators representing states with aerospace interests rather than technical merit. NASA will now acquire next-generation upper stages from United Launch Alliance for Artemis IV and Artemis V missions, marking the end of a program that exemplified government spending driven by political considerations.

Read at Ars Technica