WASHINGTON: Congressional Appropriators Release Fiscal Year 2024 Spending Bill for NASA

Decreased Budget Allocation and Deferred Decision on Mars Sample Return (MSR) Funding

March 5, 2024

The United States Congress has recently released the final fiscal year 2024 spending bill, outlining extensive appropriations for key sectors. Of particular interest is the commerce, justice and science (CJS) spending bill, through which the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will receive funding for its forthcoming initiatives.

Cuts in NASA Funding

According to the bill text and accompanying report, NASA’s allocated budget for fiscal year 2024 will be $24.875 billion. Although slightly reduced compared to its 2023 funding, this budget is 8.5% below the $27.185 billion NASA originally requested for 2024. The final bill amount is also lower than the House and Senate proposals of $25.367 billion and $25 billion, respectively.

Mars Sample Return (MSR) Funding

The bill’s stance on Mars Sample Return (MSR) funding is of notable interest. Due to the contrasting figures proposed by the House and Senate, the bill offers NASA the much-needed flexibility to reassess its approach. NASA had previously reduced MSR spending while operating within a continuing resolution, which subsequently triggered the unfortunate layoff of 8% of the staff at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in February. To ensure an informed decision, NASA will report to Congress within 60 days of the completion of the MSR Independent Review Board Response Team’s recommendations.

On-Orbit Servicing, Assembly and Manufacturing (OSAM) 1 Mission

Remarkably, the final bill allocates $227 million for the On-Orbit Servicing, Assembly and Manufacturing (OSAM) 1 mission, despite NASA’s recent announcement of its planned cancellation. Uncertainty surrounds whether or not the appropriators were aware of NASA’s intention at the time of drafting. Nonetheless, the bill recommends reviewing the mission’s necessity by September 2024 if NASA cannot comply with cost and budgetary constraints by removing certain non-essential capabilities.

Financial Support for Space Missions

The bill retains NASA’s budgetary commitment for the Space Launch System and Orion programs, allocating amounts equal to their respective funding in 2023. Additionally, the bill ensures full funding, amounting to $1.88 billion, for the Human Landing System (HLS) program, enabling the fulfillment of all contractual obligations with the HLS providers for fiscal year 2024.

Scientific Advancements

Within the scientific arena, NASA’s heliophysics division is scheduled to receive $805 million, an increase of $55 million from its 2023 funding. Specifically mentioned in the bill is the agency’s obligation to present a plan for the launch of the Geospace Dynamics Constellation, a major heliophysics mission that had been postponed. Furthermore, the report emphasizes the need for funding the VERITAS Venus mission to facilitate a launch before the end of this decade.

Investment in Nuclear Propulsion

The final bill also showcases NASA’s commitment to nuclear propulsion, earmarking $110 million for nuclear thermal propulsion and $50 million for nuclear electric propulsion. Notably, within the nuclear thermal propulsion funding, $10 million will bolster the progress of an operational system in collaboration with commercial partners as an extension of the DRACO project, which NASA is undertaking with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

These expenditures, although met with overall budgetary reductions, remain essential for the progress of NASA in the coming years. While certain paths have been altered due to budget uncertainties, the decision to reconsider MSR funding displays the agency’s commitment to robust and effective space exploration.