spacetoday.net: Senate committee approves $17.9 billion NASA budget

Posted: Sat, Sep 17, 2011, 11:03 AM ET (1503 GMT)
US Capitol

The Senate Appropriations Committee this week approved a $17.9-billion budget for NASA that includes funding for exploration programs, commercial crew development, and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The bill, passed by the full committee on Thursday, a day after the Commerce, Justice, and Science subcommittee approved it, provides an additional $1.1 billion for NASA in fiscal year 2012 compared to the House version, passed by its appropriations committee in July. Unlike the House bill, which offered no funding for JWST, the Senate bill includes $530 million for the space telescope in 2012, higher than the administration request, to ensure that the telescope can remain on track for a 2018 launch. The Senate bill also includes $3 billion for the Space Launch System (SLS) and Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle exploration programs and $500 million for Commercial Crew Development, although about 40% of that funding would be withheld until NASA certified it had started procurement of elements of the SLS.