NASA Fiscal 2010 Budget Provides $900 Million Increase Over Fiscal 2009 Base Level, New Obama Document States

Space Agency Budget Plan Attracts Praise, But It Also Is Seen As Short On Funding

President Obama will continue former President Bush’s plan to create a half-decade gap when NASA won’t be able to send any of its astronauts to space, even to low Earth orbit, stretching from retirement of the space shuttle fleet by October next year to the first manned flight of the Orion-Ares next-generation U.S. spaceship system in 2015.

The budget outline doesn’t answer whether the Obama administration will discontinue ongoing efforts to develop the Ares I rocket that will lift the Orion space capsule, in favor of existing (modified) military rockets.

Disparate segments of the Ares I rocket are being developed separately by The Boeing Co. [BA], Alliant Techsystems Inc. [ATK], and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a unit of United Technologies Corp. [UTX].

The military rockets are offered by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT]. Lockheed also is developing the Orion space capsule.

The Obama plan as well would leave unchanged the Bush expectation that American astronauts won’t return to the moon until 2020, though some military analysts estimate China or some other nation may have its spacefarers on the lunar surface before then.

Obama’s policy was set forth in his outline of the federal government budget for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2010, which he released last week. Further details of his budget plans will be revealed when he sends Congress the massive, full fiscal 2010 budget documents next month.

The five years when the space agency won’t loft manned space missions will provide savings that will help to pay for development of the Orion-Ares spacecraft system.

As a senator running for election to the White House, Obama courted Central Florida voters last year by saying he would attempt to minimize the gap, as Floridians worried that such a long period without manned space launches would dump thousands of highly skilled workers into the unemployment lines.

The Obama budget outline does offer one bit of flexibility: the possibility of one additional space shuttle flight.

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee space, aeronautics and related science subcommittee, has pressed tirelessly for an added shuttle flight to transport the Alphamagnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station. Otherwise, the $1.5 billion international experiment will remain on Earth, useless, the money wasted.

However, the Obama budget places caveats on the extra shuttle mission, saying it may be undertaken "if it can be completed safely before the end of 2010." While the current shuttle missions manifest suggests that there would be time to fit in the extra flight, that assumes that remaining shuttle flights lift off more or less on schedule.

And some shuttle missions, especially those involving Space Shuttle Atlantis but also involving the current attempt to fly Space Shuttle Discovery, have been beset by lengthy delays caused by unexpected glitches. (Please see story on Discovery in this issue.)

Obama NASA Budget

Obama sent Congress a budget outline that his administration said would give NASA $18.7 billion in regular funding,

"Combined with the $1 billion provided to the agency in the [economic stimulus] American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, this represents a total increase of more than $2.4 billion over the 2008 level," the budget text says, sounding as though the $1 billion might be in addition to the $18.7 billion.

But budget table 8-7 shows $17.8 billion in main NASA funding in the current fiscal 2009, plus the $1 billion in the economic stimulus funds, adds to $18.7 billion for the fiscal 2010 request. (Numbers may not quite add correctly because of rounding.)

In later years, the Obama budget essentially flatlines funding for the space agency.

The $18.7 billion proposed for fiscal 2010 would be followed by $18.6 billion in each of the three ensuing years, inching up slightly to $18.9 billion in fiscal 2014, the year before manned Orion spaceflights begin.

Over the remaining five years going to 2019, NASA would receive a total $98.2 billion, or an average $19.64 billion a year as Orion-Ares manned flights lift off the launch pad, not much more than the annual allowance NASA would receive in the prior five years.

The proposed NASA funding mentioned in the outline document will be fleshed out with detailed numbers when he sends the full fiscal 2010 budget to Congress next month.

A section in the Obama budget outline says it will fund "a robust human and robotic space exploration program," where the space agency will launch "a broad suite of robotic missions to destinations throughout the solar system," while also working to "develop a bold new set of astronomical observatories to probe the mysteries of the universe … "

The budget also makes a general reference to the NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation System (COTS) program, where Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, and Orbital Sciences Corp. [ORB] have received initial seed money from NASA to help them develop spacecraft for cargo logistics missions to the International Space Station, followed with contracts for those missions potentially worth billions of dollars in coming years.

The Obama budget notes that it funds "development of new space flight systems for carrying American crews and supplies to space."

As well, the funding plan finances "continued use of the International Space Station to support the agency and other federal, commercial and academic research and technology testing needs." The budget outline doesn’t mention any plan to extend the current official lifespan of the space station beyond the 2015 cutoff.

Kudos, Criticism

Obama’s NASA budget outline drew both praise and criticism.

For example, the National Space Society (NSS) noted the fiscal 2010 total amount would represent an increase of $900 million over fiscal 2009, plus the other $1 billion coming from the stimulus legislation.

"We are pleased that one of the four budget priorities for NASA includes returning Americans to the moon," Greg Allison, NSS executive vice president, said. "This is a worthy goal for the world’s leading space agency. It will challenge a new generation of American scientists and engineers, open vast new resources for economic development, and drive improvements in technology."

Other areas highlighted in the budget were climate change research and monitoring, aeronautic research, and completion and utilization of the International Space Station. "We agree with the Administration’s decision to stick with the plan to retire the shuttle by the end of 2010," Allison added. "This is necessary to keep new launch vehicle development on schedule." The Ares launch system is not expected to be ready until 2015, requiring the United States to purchase rides to space from the Russians in the interim. However, the relationship between Russia and the United States has been strained by Russian forays into South America, patrols of Russian bombers near allied airspace (please see story in this issue), and Russian threats to demolish the European Missile Defense system if the United States builds it.

No details were yet available regarding programs such as additional funds for COTS or funds for research into space solar power. It would involve gathering solar power in space and beaming it down to Earth. NSS members had expressed their support for these programs to their members of Congress last week.

"Both of these programs are vital to the long-term economic health of our nation," Allison said. "COTS is needed to spur the development of less-expensive launch vehicles by the private sector, and research into space solar power now will allow the United States to reap the long-term rewards of an endless supply of clean energy."

But a much more critical review of the NASA budget plan came from another organization.

The Space Foundation sees Obama providing too few dollars for the space agency.

As the foundation sees it, "The budget proposal for NASA represents a disappointingly small step in the right direction. It is far from what is needed if the [United States] is to stimulate the economy, create more high-tech jobs and hold on to its eroding leadership position in space," said Elliot Pulham, Space Foundation CEO.

Obama’s budget will leave the space agency marking time, rather than making progress, Pulham said.

"The proposed budget is a stay-the-course budget, not a budget for stimulus or change," according to Pulham. "Combined with the lingering absence of a NASA administrator, we are missing a golden opportunity to lead and inspire at a time when leadership and inspiration are crucial."

Obama decided not to retain NASA Administrator Mike Griffin, who left that post as Obama was inaugurated Jan. 20, and the president hasn’t yet said who will replace him at the space agency helm.