NASA responded to news that Boeing aims to lay off up to 400 workers from its Space Launch System program. The SLS rocket plays a key role in the Artemis moon program, the agency said.

Boeing informed its employees working on NASA's Artemis program that it was preparing for as many as 400 layoffs connected to the giant rocket under development amid possible shakeups to the country's return-to-the-moon initiative, the company said.

The development of the SLS rocket took too long and was too expensive. A reduced NASA budget could mean the end - and the loss of many jobs.

Boeing has notified employees of possible layoffs due to potential changes in NASA’s Artemis program, a flagship initiative to extend human and commercial space operations from low Earth orbit into cislunar space and the Moon’s surface.

Boeing told employees in its SLS moon rocket program on Saturday that it plans to make around 400 layoffs as NASA's Artemis program suffers delays and cost revisions.

On Friday, with less than an hour's notice, David Dutcher, Boeing's vice president and program manager for the SLS rocket, scheduled an all-hands meeting for the approximately 800 employees working on the program.

A 60-day notice of involuntary layoffs will be issued to affected employees by the Seattle-based aerospace manufacturer in the coming weeks.

About 400 workersat Boeing’s Space Launch System moon rocket program are set to lose jobs after the US planemaker warned on Saturday of layoffs due to revisions to NASA's Artemis program and cost expectations.