	Background

JWST is envisioned to be a large deployable space telescope, optimized  for infrared observations, and the scientific successor to the aging Hubble  Space Telescope. JWST is intended  to operate in an orbit approximately 1.5 million kilometers—or 1 million  miles—from the Earth. Schedule reserve is allocated to specific activities, elements, and major  subsystems in the event of delays or to address unforeseen risks. History of Cost Growth and Schedule Delays

JWST has experienced significant cost increases and schedule delays. Following this review, the JWST program underwent a replan in  September 2011, and in November of that same year, Congress placed  an $8 billion cap on the formulation and development costs for the  project. Previous GAO Reviews of JWST Project

We have previously found that since the project’s replan in 2011, the  JWST project has met its cost and schedule commitments. However, NASA did  not implement some recommendations, which if implemented, may have  provided insight into the challenges it now faces. Considerable Progress Made Across JWST Project, but Integration and Test Challenges Have Delayed Launch at Least 5 Months with Further Delays Likely

While much progress on hardware integration and testing and several risk  reduction efforts have occurred over the past several months, the JWST  project also used all of its schedule reserves established at the replan in  2011 to address various technical issues, including a test anomaly on the  telescope and sunshield hardware challenges. The new launch window included up to 4 months of additional  schedule reserves. Given the remaining  integration and test work ahead—the phase in development where  problems are most likely to be found and schedules tend to slip—and  risks remaining to be reduced to acceptable levels, coupled with a low  level of schedule reserves, we believe that additional delays to the  project’s launch readiness date are likely. JWST Delayed Launch Due to Integration Challenges on the Spacecraft Element, Avoiding a Potential Launch Site Conflict

In the summer of 2017, the JWST project conducted a schedule risk  assessment that showed that the October 2018 launch readiness date  was unachievable, primarily due to the various components of spacecraft  element integration taking longer to complete than planned. However, shortly after the project notified  ESA of the launch delay in September 2017, the project received updated  information from Northrop Grumman and determined that up to 3 months  of schedule reserve would be needed based upon lessons learned from  Northrop Grumman’s initial sunshield folding operation and implications  for remaining deployment test activities. As shown in the figure below, Northrop Grumman’s work on the  spacecraft element remains on the project’s critical path—the schedule  with the least amount of reserve, which determines the overall schedule  reserve for the project—now with an estimated 1.5 months of schedule  reserve to the end of the launch window in June 2019. The Standing Review  Board will also examine the project’s plans for schedule efficiencies and  potential integration and test adjustments to determine if the June 2019  launch window can be met. For a uniquely complex project such as JWST, this risk is magnified. Higher Contractor Workforce Levels to Address Continuing Technical Challenges Places JWST at Risk of Exceeding Cost Commitments

Northrop Grumman continued to maintain higher than planned workforce  levels in the past year and, as a result, NASA will have limited cost  reserves to address future challenges. However, JWST is still  resolving technical challenges and planned work continues to take longer  to complete. Program officials said  that assuming the remaining integration and tests proceed as planned  and no long delays are encountered, the existing program resources  accommodate the new launch window of March to June 2019. Under the 2011 replan, Congress placed an $8  billion cap on formulation and development costs, but any long delays  beyond the new launch window—which, as noted above, are likely— place the project at risk of exceeding this cap.
Why GAO Did This Study

JWST, a large, deployable telescope intended to be the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, is one of NASA's most complex and expensive projects, at an anticipated cost of $8.8 billion. Congress set an $8 billion JWST development cost cap in 2011, and the remaining $837 million is for its operations costs. JWST is intended to revolutionize our understanding of star and planet formation and advance the search for the origins of our universe. With significant integration and testing planned for the remaining period until launch, the JWST project will still need to address many challenges during the remainder of integration and testing.
Conference Report No. 112-284, accompanying the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012, included a provision for GAO to assess the project annually and report on its progress. This is the sixth such report. This report assesses the extent to which JWST is (1) meeting its schedule commitments, and (2) able to meet its cost commitments. GAO reviewed monthly JWST reports, reviewed relevant policies, conducted independent analysis of NASA and contractor data, and interviewed NASA and contractor officials.

What GAO Found

In 2017, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) project delayed its launch readiness date by at least 5 months, and further delays are likely. The delay—from October 2018 to a launch window between March and June 2019—was primarily caused by components of JWST's spacecraft taking longer to integrate than planned. JWST made considerable progress toward the completion of integration and test activities in the past year. However, the project used all remaining schedule reserve—or extra time set aside in the schedule in the event of delays or unforeseen risks—to address technical issues, including an anomaly on the telescope found during vibration testing. Extending the launch window provided the project up to 4 months of schedule reserve. However, shortly after requesting the new launch window in September 2017, the project determined that several months of schedule reserve would be needed to address lessons learned from the initial folding and deployment of the observatory's sunshield (see image). Given remaining integration and test work ahead—the phase in development where problems are most likely to be found and schedules tend to slip—coupled with only 1.5 months of schedule reserves remaining to the end of the launch window, additional launch delays are likely. The project's Standing Review Board will conduct an independent review of JWST's schedule status in early 2018 to determine if the June 2019 launch window can be met.
JWST will also have limited cost reserves to address future challenges, such as further launch delays, and is at risk of breaching its $8 billion cost cap for formulation and development set by Congress in 2011. For several years, the prime contractor has overestimated workforce reductions, and technical challenges have prevented these planned reductions, necessitating the use of cost reserves. Program officials said that existing program resources will accommodate the new launch window—provided remaining integration and testing proceeds as planned without any long delays. However, JWST is still resolving technical challenges and work continues to take longer than planned to complete. As a result, the project is at risk of exceeding its $8 billion formulation and development cost cap.

What GAO Recommends

GAO has made recommendations on the project in previous reports. NASA agreed with and took action on many of GAO's prior recommendations, but not on others—some of which may have provided insight to the current schedule delays. For example, in December 2012, GAO recommended that the JWST project perform an updated integrated cost/schedule risk analysis.