
The proposed budget in the Senate, for example, indicates the Mars Sample Return mission could face significant setbacks.Ī Senate report attached to its budget proposal urges NASA to rein in the budget of the Mars Sample Return mission and keep it within the original $5.3 billion lifecycle budget. However, both the House and Senate propose lower funding levels at $7.4 billion and $7.3 billion, respectively.Īn illustration of the proposed Mars Sample Return Program architecture. In the Science Mission Directorate, the White House requested an increase to $8.7 billion from $7.8 billion in 2023. Other areas of NASA’s budget are not likely to fare as well.
NASA BUDGET HOW TO
“NASA will have a lot of work to do to figure out how to continue on the programs they are currently planning.” “We were able to protect the most important national priority within NASA’s budget, at least in my view, which is to return humans to the Moon and maintain our strategic advantage in space,” Moran said during the Senate markup session. The House bill agrees with the president’s request with the Senate offering about $7.7 billion.īoth the House and Senate proposals represent an increase for Artemis from 2023 levels, demonstrating a continued bicameral and bipartisan support for crewed space exploration beyond low Earth orbit. In March, the White House requested about $8 billion for Artemis. This includes the Space Launch System, Orion spacecraft and Artemis Campaign Development activities such as the Human Landing System program and Lunar Gateway. The bulk of the Artemis program falls under Human Exploration. “These deep and painful cuts were inevitable under the deal that the speaker and the president cut.”ĭespite the overall budget cuts, the Artemis program looks to receive nearly all the amount requested by the White House. “The science community and certainly NASA contractors, they will be disappointed in that as well,” Moran said. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said he is disappointed by the overall cut to NASA. Prepared by Spaceflight Insider using congressional documents.ĭuring the Senate Appropriations Committee markup session on July 13, Ranking Member Sen. For comparison, the final enacted NASA budget for fiscal year 2023 was $25.4 billion.īoth the House and Senate NASA budget proposals are part of the larger 2024 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies appropriations bill in their respective chambers.Ī chart of proposed NASA funding for fiscal year 2024. Following the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the agency’s budget proposed in the House and Senate, released last week, allocate $25.4 billion and $25 billion, respectively. The Biden administration’s 2024 request for NASA stood at $27.2 billion when it was released in March of this year. These budget restrictions have contributed to what amounts to stagnant funding levels for NASA. 1, 2023, with no more than a 1% increase for fiscal year 2025. Under the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which was signed into law June 3, non-defense discretionary spending is to remain capped at fiscal year 2023 levels for fiscal year 2024, which begins Oct. Of particular concern is the potential impact on the Mars Sample Return mission. While the budgets provide NASA with all or most of the funding the White House requested for the Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the Moon, they still result in overall cuts to the agency. The proposed budgets for NASA in the House and Senate for the fiscal year 2024 have been unveiled, reflecting funding constraints imposed by the “Fiscal Responsibility Act.”


File Photo Credit: Mark Usciak / Spaceflight Insider
NASA BUDGET FULL
The proposed budgets for NASA in the House and Senate cut agency funding overall but provides full funding for the Artemis program.
