Note: all quotes are from
NASA's FY 2020 request
and the
supplemental request
.
- $546.5 million for the Mars Exploration Program, of which $278 million is for the Mars 2020 rover and $109 million is to begin formulation of the next mission in a Mars Sample Return campaign.
- Moves the launch date of the Europa Clipper mission from the late-2020s to 2023, and proposes using a commercial rocket instead of an SLS for launch.
- Walks back the proposal to transition the ISS to commercial operations by 2025: "By 2025, the Budget envisions commercial capabilities on the International Space Station as well as new commercial facilities and platforms to continue the American presence in Earth orbit."
- Increases funding for technology development through the Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative, "which aims to spur the creation of novel technologies needed for lunar surface exploration and accelerate the technology readiness of key systems and components."
- NASA is proposing "increasing facility maintenance activities at all Centers to reduce risk to missions. Increased funding will help reduce the significant backlog of facility maintenance projects and requirements."
- Proposes $1 billion for a Human Lunar Landing System "to enable NASA to begin supporting the development of commercial human lunar landing systems. This acquisition strategy will allow NASA to purchase an integrated commercial lunar lander that will transport astronauts from lunar orbit to the lunar surface and back."
Proposed Cuts in FY 2020
- The Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) in Astrophysics: "given delays and cost growth with the James Webb Space Telescope, the Administration is not ready to proceed with another multi-billion-dollar space telescope."
- PACE and CLARREO Pathfinder missions in Earth Science: "they are lower priorities within the current fiscal environment."
- The office of STEM Engagement (previously the Education Division)
President's Budget Request Source Documents
Congressional Action
On 22 May 2019 the House Appropriations Committee
approved its Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) appropriations legislation for FY 2020
, which includes NASA. The bill ignored the White House supplemental budget request and instead increased funding for Earth Science, Astrophysics, and STEM Outreach/Education programs. It also provided funding to continue the WFIRST space telescope and all Earth Science missions proposed for cancellation.
On 26 September 2019, the Senate Commerce Appropriations Committee approved
its legislation for NASA's FY 2020 appropriation
. The proposed bill provides partial funding human lunar landing systems, augments the SLS budget to support development of the Exploration Upper Stage, and rejects all proposed program cancellations, same as the House bill. The Senate voted 84 - 9 in on a "minibus" (combined appropriations package) which included the CJS bill on 31 October 2019.
Congress released the final compromise legislation to fund the U.S. government on 16 December 2019 in two "mini-bus" packages, one combining Defense, CJS, Financial Services and General Government, and Homeland Security (
H.R. 1158
) and the other containing the remaining areas of the federal government. NASA received $22.6 billion in this compromise. The final legislation rejected every White House proposal to cancel major programs and provided some?but not all?of the funding requested for human-qualified lunar landing systems to achieve the 2024 lunar landing goal. The Senate passed this bill 81 - 11 on 19 Dec 2019.
President Trump signed H.R. 1158 into law on 20 Dec 2019, averting another government shutdown and closing the book on NASA's FY 2020 budget.