HOUSTON – “The Administration’s $17.6 billion budget proposal for fiscal year 2009 keeps NASA on course for completing the International Space Station and retiring the space shuttle on time in 2010. In addition, the proposal allows for full funding of the Constellation Program’s Orion spacecraft and Ares I launch vehicle, with an eye toward the first test flights in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
This budget allows NASA to maintain a balanced portfolio across exploration, science and aeronautics.
As space shuttle Atlantis is poised on the launch pad to carry the Columbus science module to the space station and begin a new era of international science research in Earth orbit, we can all look forward to a sustained exploration enterprise with this budget that will realize dividends in such diverse areas as education, our economy and the environment.
The Coalition for Space Exploration urges Congress to provide sufficient funding to allow our Nation’s space program to successfully meet its stated objectives. The space agency’s carefully prioritized spending plan represents only six-tenths of one percent of the federal budget, so modest increases in NASA’s budget can accommodate many of those worthy dreams.”
Mary Engola, Chairwoman-Public Affairs Team
Coalition for Space Exploration
The Coalition for Space Exploration is a collaboration of space industry businesses and advocacy groups whose mission is to educate and inform the public on the value and benefits of space exploration and to help ensure the United States will remain a leader in space, science and technology – key factors that will benefit every American, strengthen our nation’s economy and maintain our national security.
