赫尔墨斯航天飞机目前仍受两个重大问题的困扰:一是研制成本猛增;二是航天飞机的总重量超过了阿里安-5火箭的最大运载能力。赫尔墨斯的最新预算已达69亿欧洲货币单位(按目前兑换率合84亿美元),比1987年批准的52亿欧洲货币单位(63亿美元)增加了33％。为了将成本控制在84亿美元以内,欧空局提出到本世纪末前后只制造一架航天飞机,这样可以节省1.42亿美元。航天飞机的飞行次数也从原定的每年两次减至每年一次。即便采取这些措施,能节省的经费也很有 Hermes space shuttle is still plagued by two major issues: First, the research and development costs soared; second, the total weight of the space shuttle exceeded the maximum carrying capacity of the Arian-5 rocket. Hermes’s latest budget reached 6.9 billion European monetary units (at current exchange rate of 8.4 billion U.S. dollars), an increase of 33% over the 5.2 billion European monetary units approved in 1987 (6.3 billion U.S. dollars). To keep costs under $ 8.4 billion, ESA has proposed that only one space shuttle be built around the turn of the century, saving $ 142 million. Shuttle flights have also been reduced from the original twice a year to once a year. Even if these measures are taken, the savings can be substantial