Source: Florida Today
The Senate Budget Committee is considering a $726 million boost over five years for NASA to develop its next rocket, although the prospects for actually receiving the funding in a tight budget are uncertain.
Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Orlando, requested the funding to test the solid-rocket motor for the Ares 1X. He said the testing is crucial to the Defense Department missiles, in addition to developing the next NASA rocket to send people beyond low-earth orbit.
“It’s going to be critical to the solid-rocket motors that protect this country’s national security in our submarines, in the silos and so forth,” Nelson said.
Budget Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., revealed Wednesday that he included the provision in his spending blueprint that the panel will vote on Thursday.
“I hope very much that this will be retained,” Conrad said. “We’re going to have to fight for this.”
Conrad’s provision would alter Obama’s budget, which already proposed $6 billion more for NASA over five years, making the agency a rare winner in a budget that otherwise froze domestic spending.
But Obama suffered widespread criticism for proposing to cancel the Constellation program that aimed to return people to the moon.
Lawmakers from states that launch and build rockets such as Florida, Alabama and Texas have criticized his proposal to rely on commercial companies to ferry people to the International Space Station.