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Senate Appropriators propose to allocate $ 1 billion to NASA next year for the construction of new lunar landers to take humans to the surface of the Moon – about $ 2.4 billion less than what l ‘agency asked. The shortfall threatens to delay NASA’s ambitious plan to land the first woman on the moon by 2024.
Today, the Senate Appropriations Committee released 12 funding bills for next year, presenting budget proposals for the federal government. Newly released legislation would allocate a total of $ 23.5 billion to NASA, an increase over last year’s NASA budget, but about $ 1.75 billion less than the $ 25.2 billion. dollars requested by the administration.
The Trump administration has called for increased funding to NASA over the next five years to help fund the agency’s Artemis program, an initiative to send the first woman and next man to the surface of the moon. Originally, NASA predicted that Artemis’ first landing would occur in 2028, but the administration challenged the agency to move that to 2024. NASA has made it clear that a budget increase important was needed to meet the tighter deadline, especially for the new human. lunar landing system.
In April, NASA awarded three companies – SpaceX, Blue Origin and Dynetics – contracts to develop vehicles that can be used to transport people to the surface of the moon. Initial prices were modest, with a combined value of $ 967 million for the three companies. To help accelerate development of these vehicles, the president’s budget request for NASA called on Congress to provide nearly $ 3.4 billion for human lunar landers in 2021. Ultimately, the agency predicts to select two of the three companies to build their vehicles for Artemis, with the final decision taken early next year.
However, Congress seems reluctant to give NASA the full amount it has requested. In July, the House released its funding bill for 2021, which provided only $ 628.2 million to further develop the lunar landers. During his testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee in September, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine made it clear that the money would ensure the space agency missed the 2024 deadline.
“We’re very grateful for this, I want to be clear,” Bridenstine said of the ownership. “I will also tell you that this is not enough to achieve the moon landing of 2024. I’m glad they did; it shows strong bipartisan support that we all agree we need to go to the moon. But again, the longer the program, the more I fear it will become at risk. NASA has yet to release a statement on the Senate bill today.
The current federal budget has not yet been finalized. But now that the House and Senate have released their budget bills, it is likely that the final funding compromised for the Landers will be between $ 600 million and $ 1 billion. Of course, this money only covers the amount that NASA will invest in these vehicles. It is possible that companies will add more of their own funds to accelerate the development of their vehicles with the goal of landing in 2024. But that date is still seen as a long plan, even as more funding materializes.
Artemis is even more uncertain as President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office. Biden’s transition team has not released any details of its space policy, and the fate of the Artemis program under Biden is uncertain. Meanwhile, Bridenstine said he did not plan to stay in his post under the new administration, even though he was asked to stay. There is also unrest during the transition process, as the General Service administration has yet to recognize Biden’s victory, blocking the use of government money for the transition.
Despite all this uncertainty surrounding NASA’s future, it still looks like the agency will likely get money for a lunar lander next year, slightly less than the agency had hoped for.
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