[Satellite Today 03-02-09] The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) has called President Obama’s 2010 proposed fiscal budget, “solid for defense, space and civil aviation” in a Feb. 27 statement from AIA President and CEO Marion Blakey.
    Blakey said that the $3.55 trillion budget includes responsible top line totals for both the [U.S. Department of Defense] and NASA while making good investments in other aerospace-related areas. “In this remarkably difficult economic atmosphere, we are encouraged to see a budget proposal that recognizes the importance of our national security and invests in space and aviation priorities. Congress should use this proposal as the blueprint to follow when crafting the final fiscal 2010 budget,” Blakey said in the statement.
    Highlights of the budget include: a $533.7 billion top line budget for the Pentagon, a 4 percent increase over the fiscal 2009 level; an $800 million investment in the NextGen air transportation system modernization program for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration; a NASA budget of $18.7 billion, a $1.4 billion increase over the enacted fiscal 2008 budget which does not include the $1 billion boost NASA receieved in the stimulus bill; and $1.3 billion to fund the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s development and acquisition of weather satellites and climate sensors.