Threats to SLS schedule

Delays in the development of Orion's European-built service module, and damage to NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans from a tornado in February are the key schedule risks for the first Space Launch System mission. The schedule for the launch of Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1), currently planned for late 2018, remains uncertain regardless of the technical issues as NASA studies the possibility of putting a crew on the flight, which would likely delay it by up to a year. Bill Hill, deputy associate administrator for exploration systems development, told the NASA Advisory Council's Human Exploration and Operations Committee the module and tornado damage issues are running "kind of neck and neck." (Source: SpaceNews, 03/30/17)