{"id":9807,"date":"2025-07-05T23:04:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-05T15:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/republican-backed-reconciliation-bill-passes-includes-funding-for-iss-artemis-programs-space-shuttle-relocation\/"},"modified":"2025-07-05T23:04:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-05T15:04:00","slug":"republican-backed-reconciliation-bill-passes-includes-funding-for-iss-artemis-programs-space-shuttle-relocation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/republican-backed-reconciliation-bill-passes-includes-funding-for-iss-artemis-programs-space-shuttle-relocation\/","title":{"rendered":"Republican-backed reconciliation bill passes, includes funding for ISS, Artemis programs, Space Shuttle relocation"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_69527\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-69527\" style=\"width: 876px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-69527 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250502_NASA_Headquarters_small.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"876\" height=\"657\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250502_NASA_Headquarters_small.jpeg 876w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250502_NASA_Headquarters_small-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250502_NASA_Headquarters_small-678x509.jpeg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250502_NASA_Headquarters_small-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250502_NASA_Headquarters_small-326x245.jpeg 326w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250502_NASA_Headquarters_small-80x60.jpeg 80w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 876px) 100vw, 876px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-69527\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters in Washington D.C. Image: NASA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A massive tax and spending package passed by the Senate on Wednesday was approved by the House on Thursday and signed by President Donald Trump on Friday, July 4.<\/p>\n<p>The bill, H.R. 1, also referred to as the \u2018One Big Beautiful Bill\u2019 Act, was passed through the reconciliation process, meaning it required a simple majority in both chambers of Congress, avoiding impacts from the filibuster.<\/p>\n<p>It is separate from the Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations bills, which include the funding for NASA\u2019s budget along with other agencies, however, there are provisions that do concern America\u2019s space agency.<\/p>\n<h4>Moon and Mars<\/h4>\n<p>The legislation earmarks $9.995 billion to be available until Sept. 30, 2032, for projects that have backing by politicians in states that have held key roles in NASA\u2019s Artemis program.<\/p>\n<p>The biggest chunk of that is $4.1 billion set aside \u201cfor the procurement, transportation, integration, operation and other necessary expenses of the Space Launch System for Artemis Mission 4 and 5.\u201d The bill states that no less than $1.025 billion should be spent on the heavy lift rocket each year FY26-FY29.<\/p>\n<p>It also includes $20 million to fund the Orion spacecraft \u201cfor use with the Space Launch System on the Artemis 4 Mission and reuse in subsequent Artemis Missions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>These two items run counter to the proposed NASA budget from the White House, which sought to end the SLS and Orion programs following the launch of the Artemis III mission.<\/p>\n<p>The bill also preserves funding to the tune of $2.6 billion for the Gateway, a lunar space station being built through international cooperation from countries, like Canada, Japan, the United Arab Emirates and the European Space Agency (ESA). The legislation states that at least $750 million should be spent on the Gateway during Fiscal Years 2026, 2027 and 2028.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hEyLK506WLQ?si=njyF54Rtt5W8E8EZ\" width=\"678\" height=\"381\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Both Northrop Grumman and Thales Alenia Space serve as prime contractors for Gateway for the HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) and I-HAB (International Habitation) modules respectively. Maxar Technologies was selected as the prime on the PPE (Power and Propulsion Element) module.<\/p>\n<p>The PPE and HALO are scheduled to launch onboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket no earlier than December 2027, less than a year earlier than the planned Artemis 4 mission, but a report published by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) in July 2024 expressed some concerns regarding NASA\u2019s mass management plan.<\/p>\n<p>The bill also includes $700 million for a new undertaking referred to as \u201ca high-performance Mars telecommunications orbiter.\u201d The legislation necessitates that it work both for the Mars Sample Return mission, which the White House also wants nixed, and for future Mars missions, both crewed and robotic.<\/p>\n<p>A stipulation for the funds is that it must go to a commercial company that received funding from NASA in FY24 or FY25 for commercial designs for a MSR mission. That company also needs to be able to deliver such an orbiter by the end of 2028.<\/p>\n<h4>Space station, space centers and space shuttle<\/h4>\n<p>H.R. 1 funds the International Space Station to the tune of $1.25 billion, with the order that the funds be dolled out in increments of no less than $250 million during FY25-29.<\/p>\n<p>The White House is seeking to greatly reduce the amount of funds that go towards both operations of the ISS as well as the science conducted onboard.<\/p>\n<p>$325 million is also set aside to fulfill a contact with SpaceX that NASA announced in June 2024. This is for the development and delivery of the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle, which is designed to slowly lower the orbit of the space station before bringing it down over the Pacific Ocean after the end of its operational life in 2030.<\/p>\n<p>The legislation sets aside $1 billion for unspecified \u201cimprovements\u201d to the \u201cmanned spaceflight centers\u201d of NASA, which include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>$300 million \u2013 Johnson Space Center (Houston, Texas)<\/li>\n<li>$250 million \u2013 Kennedy Space Center (Cape Canaveral, Florida)<\/li>\n<li>$120 million \u2013 Stennis Space Center (Pearlington, Mississippi)<\/li>\n<li>$100 million \u2013 Marshall Space Flight Center (Huntsville, Alabama)<\/li>\n<li>$30 million \u2013 Michoud Assembly Facility (New Orleans, Louisiana)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_70159\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-70159\" style=\"width: 876px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-70159\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/20250704_Discovery.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"876\" height=\"605\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/20250704_Discovery.jpg 876w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/20250704_Discovery-300x207.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/20250704_Discovery-678x468.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/20250704_Discovery-768x530.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 876px) 100vw, 876px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-70159\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Space shuttle Discovery, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) flies over the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Tuesday, April 17, 2012, in Washington. Discovery, the first orbiter retired from NASA\u2019s shuttle fleet, completed 39 missions, spent 365 days in space, orbited the Earth 5,830 times, and traveled 148,221,675 miles. Image: NASA\/Smithsonian Institution\/Dane Penland<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>There is also $85 million put aside for the transfer of a space vehicle. The bill doesn\u2019t offer specifics on this, but both of Texas\u2019 Republican senators, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz backed a proposal to relocate the Space Shuttle Discovery from its current location in the Smithsonian\u2019s National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. to JSC.<\/p>\n<p>Cornyn introduced the \u201cBring the Space Shuttle Home\u201d Act in April, which was co-sponsored by Cruz.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is no better final home for Space Shuttle Discovery than JSC, where these explorers of tomorrow can learn from and be inspired by the incredible legacy of those who changed the history of the world in Houston, where giant leaps in human spaceflight started,\u201d said Gov. Abbott in a letter of support dated June 6, 2025.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe would have to take the Shuttle apart to move it at this point,\u201d said Lori Garver, the former NASA Deputy Administrator under President Barack Obama, wrote on X. \u201cThe aircraft transport was decommissioned and it wouldn\u2019t hold up that distance on a barge or highway (bridges\/trees\/power lines). If this is the priority for our tax dollars, we are doomed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters in Washington D.C. Image: NASA A massive tax and spending package passed by the Senate on Wednesday was approved by the House on Thursday and signed by President Donald Trump on Friday, July 4. The bill, H.R. 1, also referred to as the \u2018One Big Beautiful Bill\u2019 Act, was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[717,190,1053,1054,1055],"class_list":["post-9807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-international-space-station","tag-nasa","tag-one-big-beautiful-bill-act","tag-reconciliation-bill","tag-space-shuttle-discovery"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9807"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9807\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}