Society
US budget ups support for commercial space flight
Updated: 2011-02-15 09:04
(Agencies)
![]() Tourists take pictures of a NASA sign at the Kennedy Space Center visitors complex in Cape Canaveral, Florida April 14, 2010. [Photo/Agencies] |
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida – The Obama administration wants to step up support for commercial space flight and start work on a next-generation launch system for missions beyond the International Space Station under an $18.7 billion NASA budget unveiled on Monday.
The proposed spending plan boosts spending for fledgling commercial human spaceflight projects to $850 million for the year beginning October 1, while maintaining overall NASA's overall spending at its current level.
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The shuttles are being retired after two or three more missions due to high operating costs and to develop new ships that can travel beyond the space station, a $100 billion project of 16 nations that orbits about 220 miles above Earth.
The US government already is buying rides for its space station astronauts from the Russian government at a cost of more than $50 million per person.
Obama wants to stimulate development of commercial space flight services in the United States, an idea that last year polarized Congress.
Legislators ultimately authorized but never funded $312 million for NASA's commercial crew development efforts for this year and $500 million for 2012 and 2013. Obama originally requested $3.3 billion for that three-year period.
"We hope as (commercial companies) develop capabilities, we can lessen our reliance on foreign governments," Bolden said.
The new spending plan includes $2.8 billion to get NASA started on developing a multipurpose spaceship and new rockets capable of flying to the moon, asteroids and other destinations in deep space.
It also provides $1 billion for a space technology research and development program authorized, but also not funded last year.
NASA's projections forecast $18.7 billion budgets over the next five years.
The budget includes about $550 million to fund pensions of shuttle workers being laid off by prime shuttle contractor United Space Alliance and allocates $325 million to begin making up a $1.5 billion cost overrun of the James Webb Space Telescope, a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope.
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