Because its a dumb program that literally wouldn't happen if SLS was not involved. SLS is not needed if you re-architected the program. Its pure politics.

> So far it’s proved incapable of being launched, attaining orbit, and returning to earth as designed.

It has reached orbit in all but name.

Its the second rocket ever to have reused a booster. Literally in human history.

But I guess in your book building the biggest rocket in history and reusing part of it is no big deal.

> The problem is we aren’t moving fast at all.

Literally only if you compare it to Appollo. Compare to the last 30 years of the space industry its still lighting fast. Actually testing something real that can land on the moon, is something for example Constellation never even got to.

> Saturn V was better by an order of magnitude and likely cheaper

Except it wasn't and you are clueless about cost. You are just asserting things based on less then nothing.

> Starship is doing this on easy mode and it’s failing.

You are literally the only person on earth dumb enough to consider a full reusable rocket that can land on multiple bodies in the solar system 'easy'.