NASA budget

Nelson criticizes “plague” of cost-plus NASA contracts
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson offered a surprisingly strong endorsement of fixed-price contracts and competition at a congressional hearing May 3, calling traditional cost-plus contracts a “plague” on the agency.

NASA space technology programs face “constraining” budget
A flat budget for NASA’s space technology programs is “very constraining” for the agency as it faces tough decisions about what efforts it can fund and at what amounts.

House appropriator promises to mark up NASA spending bill on schedule
The chairman of the House appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA says he expects his committee to develop spending bills “on time” this year but was noncommittal about the level of support NASA will receive.

White House requests $26 billion for NASA for 2023
The Biden administration’s fiscal year 2023 budget proposal seeks nearly $26 billion for NASA, with increases for exploration, Earth science and space technology.

Omnibus spending bill includes $24 billion for NASA for 2022
House and Senate appropriators completed work March 9 on an omnibus spending bill for fiscal year 2022 that would give NASA a little more than $24 billion, $760 million below the administration’s request.

House appropriators approve NASA spending bill with revised lunar lander and nuclear propulsion language
The House Appropriations Committee passed a spending bill July 15 that leaves intact overall funding for NASA but tweaks language regarding the Human Landing System and nuclear thermal propulsion.

House appropriations bill supports increase to NASA’s budget
A House appropriations subcommittee advanced a spending bill July 12 that would provide NASA with a small increase over what the administration proposed for fiscal year 2022, but does not address some key areas of concern.

SOFIA operations continue despite cancellation threat
Despite facing the threat of cancellation for the second straight year, a NASA airborne observatory is continuing with regular operations.

NASA requests $24.8 billion in 2022, proposes to cancel SOFIA again
NASA released its fiscal year 2022 budget request May 28, asking for $24.8 billion to support a number of new and existing science and exploration programs but also proposing once again to cancel an airborne astronomical observatory.

Biden administration proposes $24.7 billion budget for NASA in 2022
The White House released a first look at its budget proposal for fiscal year 2022 that includes an increase in funding for NASA, particularly Earth science and space technology programs.

NASA receives $23.271 billion in fiscal year 2021 omnibus spending bill
Congress will provide NASA with nearly $23.3 billion in the final fiscal year 2021 omnibus spending bill, restoring several science programs but falling far short of the funding sought for a lunar lander program.

White House, NASA emphasize bipartisan support for lunar plans
Vice President Mike Pence said in a Feb. 19 speech that the administration’s budget proposal for NASA to support a human return to the moon by 2024 has bipartisan support, a claim echoed by NASA despite criticism about some proposed cuts in the bill.

NASA’s SOFIA airborne observatory faces termination again
NASA’s fiscal year 2021 budget request proposes cancelling an airborne observatory, a move that has surprised many astronomers but is also not the first time the project has faced termination.

Mixed reaction to NASA budget proposal in Congress and industry
NASA’s fiscal year 2021 budget proposal has gotten a mixed reception on Capitol Hill and elsewhere, with many supporting increased funding for exploration efforts but criticizing another attempt to cut science and education programs.

White House requests significant NASA budget increase to fund Artemis program
The White House is proposing to increase NASA’s budget by more than two and a half billion dollars in fiscal year 2021, providing substantially increased funding for the Artemis program while seeking once again to cancel several science and education programs.

NASA’s $21 billion budget proposal takes aim at the status quo
NASA, or at least the White House, is showing growing impatience with the delays and cost growth in some of its biggest missions. That theme is clear in the proposals to rein in the Space Launch System, but also in its approach to science program.

NASA criticized for proposed budget cuts
NASA’s fiscal year 2020 budget request is facing scrutiny from nearly all quarters for its proposals to cut science missions and education programs as well as defer work on an upgraded version of the Space Launch System.

Op-ed | The rocky landscape for astrophysics
Aside from the gaping hole in capabilities that WFIRST was uniquely designed to fill in the 2020s, NASA's projected out-year budget delivers a knock-out punch to future U.S. leadership in space astrophysics

NASA budget proposal targets SLS
The White House’s fiscal year 2020 budget request for NASA proposes to delay work on an upgraded version of the Space Launch System and would transfer some of that vehicle’s payloads to other rockets.

Final fiscal year 2019 budget bill secures $21.5 billion for NASA
An appropriation bill signed into law Feb. 15 gives NASA $21.5 billion for fiscal year 2019, $1.6 billion above the administration’s original request.