The release of NASA's latest budget reveals the Orion spacecraft and Lunar Gateway space station are getting the chop. The US$18.8-billion total figure decreases spending by $6 billion, or 24%, as the space agency increases funding for crewed Moon and Mars missions.
The new budget request not only reflects the Trump administration's policy to curb federal spending, it also marks a shift in NASA's priorities that involves more than simple bookkeeping. For decades, NASA has been at the center of a multi-directional tug of war over not only money, but the question of what the American space program should be in the 21st century.
The most conspicuous change that will occur if the budget is approved is that both the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) will end with the Artemis III mission scheduled to fly in, perhaps, 2027. Already beleaguered by significant delays and cost overruns, there have already been calls to cancel the projects in favor of more advanced and cost effective commercial competitors.
Orion is already $20 billion in the hole and has suffered ongoing setbacks, including problems with its life support system and heat shield. Meanwhile, SLS is decades behind schedule and has eaten through $24 billion. Worse, each launch of the disposable SLS costs an estimated $4 billion and can only fly once every two years. Beyond that, it has been criticized as an Apollo-light project using 1970s era Space Shuttle technology and being organized less as a cutting-edge space venture and more as a job creation program for congressional constituencies and aerospace contractors.
Along with these, NASA is also pulling the plug on Gateway. Originally planned as an outpost in cislunar orbit that would act as a stopping-off point for lunar landing and Mars expeditions, it has received criticism as unnecessary and that with current delays it will not enter service until the mid-2030s. The new budget will end the Gateway project and transfer the completed components to other missions.
However, these cuts do not reflect an overall winding down of the Artemis program. Far from it. The budget allocates an increase of $7 billion for crewed lunar exploration, with an additional billion dollars going to a projected crewed mission to Mars – especially as a counter to China's increasingly ambitious efforts to land astronauts on the Moon and Mars.
Another aspect of the budget is to eliminate missions that are seen as not cost effective in terms of science returns for money invested. The top candidate for cancellation is the Mars Sample Return mission budgeted at up to $11 billion that would not fly until the middle of the next decade. Other possible sacrifices could be the continuation of the aging Chandra X-ray Observatory with an annual operating cost of $70 million, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope for studying dark energy at a cost of $3 billion and has been cited as being redundant compared to other missions, and $1.161 billion for Earth science missions.
The last of these is significant because it shows the ascendance of advocates who have for decades pushed for NASA to move away from space launch vehicles, low Earth orbit stations, and Earth monitoring missions in favor of deep space missions, human spaceflight, and cutting-edge technology while leaving many traditional space roles to commercial firms.
Along with this, the budget cuts loose green aviation projects and focuses more attention to aiding the FAA in fulfilling the administration's directive to modernize America's alarmingly antiquated air traffic control system.
One understated part of the budget is the pivoting to winding down US participation in the International Space Station (ISS) prior to its decommissioning and deorbiting in 2030. Part of the reason may be budgetary, but recent reports suggest that the ISS may be in worse shape than previously thought, with cracks and air leaks threatening to force the orbital lab's evacuation and disposal much earlier than anticipated. As a result, NASA seems to be pushing harder for private companies to develop their own space stations and to fast track the development of the propulsion system needed to lower the ISS into the Earth's atmosphere for a controlled burn up.
"This proposal includes investments to simultaneously pursue exploration of the Moon and Mars while still prioritizing critical science and technology research," said acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro. "I appreciate the President’s continued support for NASA’s mission and look forward to working closely with the administration and Congress to ensure we continue making progress toward achieving the impossible."
Source: NASA