NASA to Get Lowest Annual Budget in 4 Years

Sources close to US President Barack Obama say that he will ask for a budget of $17.7 billion (€13.34 billion) for NASA this fiscal year. This sum is the lowest the American space agency was proposed to receive over the last four years, analysts say.

The forthcoming 2013 budget proposal is expected to severely cut funding to several NASA directorates, missions and upcoming projects, while placing emphasis on the completion of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and funding private companies for developing spacecraft.

Space Exploration Technologies Incorporated (SpaceX), Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC) and Boeing are just some of the companies that will probably continue to receive funds from the space agency for continuing to work on private alternative to putting cargo and astronauts in orbit.

The objective is nearly at hand. SpaceX is leading the way in this competition, having already tested its rocket and spacecraft designs twice, in 2010. Another flight scheduled to take place in a month or so will demonstrate whether or not the Dragon spacecraft can dock to the International Space Station.

But the NASA budget will be incapable of providing the funding necessary for this type of monetary support and continue on with all the plans set forth by its planetary science division. The group will most likely lose 20 percent of its funding, a decrease from $1.5 billion to $1.2 billion, Space reports.

The new figures equal a 5 percent cut from the $18.7 billion that Obama thought he would be proposing for NASA this time last year. That figure was part of a five-year plan that would have allotted increasing funds each year. The plan is now well behind schedule.

It has recently emerged that the White House Office of Management and Budget asked NASA last year to prepare briefings as to what would happen under three budget-reduction scenarios, of 5, 10 and 15 percent, respectively.

NASA officials are scheduled to reveal the President’s budget proposal during a televised conference to be held today, February 13, at 1900 GMT. At the same time, officials from the US Air Force will present details of the funds they are proposed to receive, during a meeting to be held at the Pentagon.

The debate on how much money NASA will receive this year is far from over, so keep an eye on this space for more.