The Commercial Spaceflight Federation welcomes NASA’s FY2015 budget proposal and its continued support for commercial spaceflight.
“With the proposed budget, the Administration continues to communicate the importance of having a strong national space program that can further our presence in space and benefit life here on Earth,” stated CSF President Michael Lopez-Alegria. “We applaud the robust support for Commercial Crew and Space Technology which will strengthen our space industrial base, and secure the nation’s place as a leader of exploration and innovation. We look forward to working with Congress to achieve the highest levels of funding for these critical programs.”
The White House’s 2015 Fiscal Year budget request would provide NASA with $17.46B. Within that topline, NASA has requested $848M for its Commercial Crew Program and $705M for Space Technology.
Rapidly developing American spacecraft to fly NASA astronauts is crucial to end NASA’s dependency on Russia. NASA currently pays ROSCOSMOS approximately $70 million per seat to fly our astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). In partnership with NASA through its Commercial Crew Program, American companies are developing safe, modern, cost-effective, and reliable transportation to ISS. Full funding for this important program will rapidly reduce our dependence on aging Russian infrastructure.
The U.S. continues to develop innovative technologies that drive exploration through NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. Strong continued support for these programs will ensure the U.S. remains a leader in space despite intense competition from other countries such as China and India. In addition, NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program is allowing researchers to test key technologies through commercial suborbital flights to further aid exploration to new destinations.
About the Commercial Spaceflight Federation
The mission of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) is to promote the development of commercial human spaceflight, pursue ever-higher levels of safety, and share best practices and expertise throughout the industry. The Commercial Spaceflight Federation’s member companies, which include commercial spaceflight developers, operators, spaceports, suppliers, and service providers, are creating thousands of high-tech jobs nationwide, working to preserve American leadership in aerospace through technology innovation, and inspiring young people to pursue careers in science and engineering. For more information please visit www.commercialspaceflight.org or contact Sirisha Bandla at sirisha@commercialspaceflight.org or at 202.347.1418.
