U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) today issued the following statement regarding NASA’s selection of a design for the Space Launch System (SLS) Vehicle.

“I am pleased that the Obama administration has finally agreed with Congress that SLS is the only viable option to maintain America’s leadership in human space flight. However, we have not yet seen the details of this decision. Accordingly, I will continue to monitor this situation very closely to see whether the administration implements the 130-metric ton SLS plan as enacted by Congress. It is my hope to see thousands of our brightest scientists and engineers – in Alabama and across the country – put to work immediately and without interruption to bring this plan to fruition. We simply cannot afford to allow our global competitive advantage in human space flight to erode any further.”