Quote:
Originally Posted by Dadhawk
Whether they have to be overhauled between launches they are still more expensive than they need to be for a "throw away"
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We don't know how (or if) NASA did the cost analysis, but it might be that the R&D needed for a new design or for reusing some other engine would have made a per-launch cost greater than reusing RS-25s (which hopefully required minimal investment to repurpose for SLS).
Also, according to
Wikipedia the first 4 SLS flights use existing Shuttle engines, while the newly manufactured ones are "simplified RS-25E variant". Although this does fall into the typical government thinking of "lets use these spare parts now for cheap, even though they'll cost us a lot more in the long run - that's a problem for the next person to hold office".