NASA
Founded in October 1958
, is the leading department of civil aerospace in the United States.
2023
NASA receives an annual budget of $25.38 billion from Congress.
yes
worldwide
funds
The most invested
aerospace
mechanism.
Today let’s talk about:
Where does NASA spend more than 20 billion US dollars every year?
01
What is NASA’s annual budget?
NASA was established in October 1958, formerly the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), and its history can be traced back to 1914. As the world’s richest space agency, NASA’s budget has experienced significant changes in different historical stages.
In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the world’s first artificial satellite, kicking off the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. Since its establishment in 1958, NASA’s budget has doubled every year. In just eight years, it increased from US$89 million in 1958 to US$4.171 billion in 1964, accounting for approximately 3.5% of US government expenditures.
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NASA Budget 1958-1964
mapping:
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1965、
In 1966, NASA’s budget peaked at US$5.092 billion during the Apollo program, accounting for approximately 4.41% of US government expenditures. After calculating inflation, it is approximately equal to US$50.8 billion in 2024.
But after winning the race to the moon, space exploration lost political support and NASA’s budget was slashed. It dropped from about 2% in 1970 to 1% in 1975.
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NASA Budget 1965-1975
mapping:
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By 2000, NASA’s budget accounted for only about 0.75% of total U.S. government spending.
After 2010, the proportion of NASA’s budget in government expenditures dropped to only about 0.5%, and has remained so to this day.
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NASA Budget 2000-2010
mapping:
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Although the budget received by NASA has been declining as a proportion of government expenditures, the total amount is still not to be underestimated. In 2018, NASA’s budget exceeded US$20 billion for the first time, reaching an all-time high of US$25.38 billion in 2023, and falling by 2% to US$24.875 billion in 2024.
02
Where is NASA’s budget spent?
According to NASA’s expenditure plan for the past three years (2022/2023/2024), NASA’s budget for each fiscal year is roughly divided into nine projects for management: science, aeronautics, space technology innovation, space exploration, space operations, STEM education, safety and security services, environmental protection and compliance, and audit and supervision. The proportion of each expenditure is as follows:
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2022-2024 NASA total budget expenditure plan
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According to the nature of expenditure, we divided these 9 major items into two categories. One category is basic expenditure, including:
STEM education, safety and security services, infrastructure and environmental compliance, auditing and supervision. The purpose of these expenditures is to ensure that NASA can operate efficiently.
The specific expenditure details for each item are as follows:
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2022-24 NASA STEM Budget Spending Plan
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Charting the 2022-24 NASA Safety and Security Services budget spending plan:
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Charting of NASA’s infrastructure and environmental compliance budget spending plans for 2022-24:
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Another category is
Space activity expenditures
,Include:
Science, aeronautics, space technology innovation, space exploration, space operations
Five major items, these expenditures are the costs incurred by NASA for space activities and various aerospace technology explorations, such as Artemis, International Space Station operations and other missions.
Specific expenditures are as follows:
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2022-24 NASA science program budget spending plan
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2022-24 NASA Aeronautics Budget Spending Plan
mapping:
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2022-24 NASA space technology budget spending plan
mapping:
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Chart of NASA’s deep space exploration system research and development budget expenditure plan for 2022-24:
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2022-24 NASA space operations budget spending plan
mapping:
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03
NASA’s Achievements and Inspirations
As the leader of U.S. civil aerospace, the most commendable thing about NASA is that it formulates and executes all civil aerospace missions led by the U.S. government, but it itself is not too involved in technology R&D and manufacturing.
These projects have been approved one by one by NASA
contract
way, allocated to large and small companies in the U.S. commercial aerospace industry chain. According to statistics, at least 75% of NASA’s 2024 full-year budget is paid to more than 5,000 companies in the United States, which directly affects the rapid rise of U.S. commercial aerospace.
For example, in the field of scientific exploration:
NASA’s next-generation near-infrared spectroscopic space telescope, the SPHEREx mission, is developed by Ball Aerospace. This telescope applies the linear variable filter that NASA used on New Horizons.
The Dragonfly Titan rotor probe developed by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and NASA used thermonuclear generator technology in the rotorcraft developed for this mission.
The Psyche asteroid detector, a collaboration between American remote sensing satellite manufacturer MAXAR and NASA, uses Hall thrusters in an interstellar exploration mission for the first time in history. It is also the first interstellar exploration mission to use laser communication in human history.
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Rendering of NASA’s Dragonfly space probe Source:
NASA
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In the field of space technology, NASA also invests approximately US$1 billion every year in innovative technology research such as early innovation, technology transformation, and small business innovation exploration, including:
New nanomaterial technologies;
Lunar energy technology;
Space additive manufacturing technology;
On-orbit maintenance, assembly, and manufacturing technology.
In the field of space operations, the International Space Station led by NASA has made outstanding contributions to the U.S. aerospace industry, including:
NASA’s commercial manned spaceflight contract has helped SpaceX complete the research and development of epoch-making aerospace products such as Falcon 9 and Dragon spacecraft;
The Low Orbit Commercial Development (CLD) project of NASA and Axiom Space will cooperate to develop a commercial space station operated by Axiom Space to replace the International Space Station after its expiration in 2030;
Various commercial research on the International Space Station has helped the United States lead the world for decades in agricultural breeding, biopharmaceuticals, space manufacturing and other fields.
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AXIOM space station
Rendering of Source:
NASA
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In 2024, commercial aerospace will be included in the government work report for the first time, becoming a representative of the “new productive forces” leading the high-quality development of China’s economy.
As a “latecomer” in the aerospace industry, China’s scientific research progress and exploration model have important reference significance for the Chinese aerospace industry.
