Posted: Sat, Aug 23, 2003, 10:11 AM ET (1411 GMT)
The White House has reportedly rejected a NASA proposal to give the shuttle and Orbital Space Plane (OSP) programs a significant increase in next year's budget, Florida Today reported Saturday. NASA had asked the Bush Administration to increase the budget for the shuttle and OSP by $1.6 billion next year, and provide a total of $20 billion in additional funding over the next five years. The $1.6 billion in 2004 would be used primarily for shuttle return-to-flight activities, with the rest used to speed up development of the OSP. The requested $20 billion would have more than doubled what NASA previously planned to spend on the shuttle program over the next five years. The Florida Today report said that the Office of Management and Budget offered no public explanation for why it rejected the request. Meanwhile, President Bush said Friday that he would wait until he read the report of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) before making any changes to the shuttle program. Bush, speaking in Seattle, did say that a space program "is important for a country that is trying to stay on the leading edge of technological change," but declined to say anything specific about the shuttle in his first public comments on NASA since February. The CAIB's report will be published Tuesday.

Related Links:

•  Florida Today article
•  Houston Chronicle article