This is not a new idea. After success Launch of the Artemis II mission this week, NASA will fly the SLS rocket at least a few more times, possibly via Artemis V as mandated by Congress. The budget proposal released Friday supports that plan. Isaacman expressed his desire to see NASA move away from the expendable SLS rocket when a commercial alternative like SpaceX’s Starship or Blue Origin’s New Glenn becomes available for human launches. That’s still at least a few years away.
“For missions beyond Artemis V, NASA will initiate a new procurement to obtain commercial transportation services for astronauts to rendezvous with the lunar landers,” the agency said in a budget summary released Friday. This new procurement is expected to begin in fiscal year 2027, NASA said.
Elements of the vision outlined by Isaacman and other NASA officials last week, such as deep space nuclear propulsion, nuclear reactors on the Moon and the search for lunar resources, will require significant investment in new space technology. A new space technology project that NASA will launch under this budget is funding to support commercial efforts to produce, store, transfer and test rocket fuel derived from resources on the Moon’s surface.
But the overall news for NASA’s space technology portfolio is not good. The White House is proposing to cut NASA’s space technology directorate by $297 million this year and $476 million by 2025, targeting cuts to what the Trump administration calls “frivolous technology projects without applications.”
The White House budget office also proposes a $1.1 billion cut in funding for the International Space Station, the retirement of the ISS by 2030, and continued deorbiting. congressional bill extending the ISS through 2032, supported by key lawmakers including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
NASA last week announced a new strategy to help commercial companies develop their own manned outposts to replace the ISS in low Earth orbit. Although delays and inconveniences The White House has requested only a small funding increase for the program in 2027, with a new commercial station ready when NASA retires the ISS.
The administration’s spending plan would continue Trump’s long-standing effort to zero out funding for NASA’s education programs.
