Program Artemis It’s a key initiative to get astronauts back to the Moon, but its delays and high costs have come under fire recently. However, the United States Congress is ready to give him new budget push during the next financial year.
According to the fee TechCrunchSenate and House Appropriations Committees Propose NASA to Receive about $25,000 million funding in fiscal year 2024.
This does not represent a change from the current year when the same figure was assigned. But while the overall budget will not change, the economic headings allocated to the Artemis program and its key platforms, the SLS rocket and the Orion spacecraft, will increase.
The budget for the Artemis program in 2024 will be $7,700 to $7,900 milliondepending on commission. This will result in an estimated $440 million increase in funds over funds received in FY 2023.
The intention of the United States Congress is already controversial even within NASA itself. If the overall budget doesn’t increase and more money goes to Artemis, This is because they plan to cut it out of other areas or programs.. And the sector that will take a hit will be science missions, which are estimated to be about $410 million less in the new fiscal year than the current one.
Artemis program inflates its FY2024 budget
The proposals of the Senate and House Appropriations Committees make it clear that Artemis program enjoys strong support from the US Congress. A show of support that came just a couple of months after strong controversy over the results of NASA’s internal audit.
In late May, the US Space Agency’s Office of the Inspector General revealed that development of the SLS rocket was accumulating more than 6 years of delay. Besides, yes It cost about $6 billion more. than originally budgeted. According to the auditors, one of NASA’s biggest mistakes was trying to adapt old technologies – like old space shuttle engines – instead of building a new launch system from scratch.
In addition, bureaucratic and administrative decisions were called into question. From the introduction of a system of additional contracts instead of a fixed price structure to the lack of proper control over relations with contractor companies. While this does not pose an immediate threat to Artemis program missions, yes, it heated up the mood at NASA.
Scientific, technological and economic task
Until now, returning to the Moon has been not only a scientific and technological challenge, but also an economic one. It is estimated that by fiscal year 2025, when astronauts will again set foot on the surface of the moon, US to allocate over $93 billion to Artemis programtaking 2012 as a starting point.
Without a doubt, the SLS rocket has so far been the most expensive in the project. Until 2022, almost $24 billion has been allocated for its development and launch. And since it’s not a reusable vehicle, all indications are that NASA will have to commit several billion more dollars in the coming years. The next major mission of the program will be Artemis II, which, if there are no problems, will take place in the spring of 2024.
Source: Hiper Textual
