President Joe Biden submitted on Friday a $1.5 trillion budget request that includes $24.7 billion for NASA for 2022.
The ask is part of the budget’s discretionary spending, which needs to be passed by Congress each year. The requested funding if approved would be $1.5 billion more than the funding for 2021, a 6.3% increase.
“This $24.7 billion funding request demonstrates the Biden Administration’s commitment to NASA and its partners who have worked so hard this past year under difficult circumstances and achieved unprecedented success,” said acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk.
The majority of the increase in funding would go to both supporting the continued Artemis program that aims to land the first woman on the moon by 2024 as well as investing in technology and research with an aim to lower costs over time. It also looks to increase funding to climate science missions.
“The president’s discretionary request increases NASA’s ability to better understand Earth and further monitor and predict the impacts of climate change,” Jurczyk said. “It also gives us the necessary resources to continue advancing America’s bipartisan moon to Mars space exploration plan, including landing the first woman and first person of color on the moon under the Artemis program.”
The budget seeks to maintain funding for its scientific, robotic missions farther afield including funding for the Mars Sample Return mission to bring back soil samples to Earth, the Clipper mission to Jupiter moon Europa, Dragonfly mission to fly a drone-like craft on Saturn moon Titan and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
Among the budget requests with significant increases are:
- $6.9 billion for human exploration of the moon, Mars and beyond, an increase of $325 million.
- $1.4 billion for NASA’s Space Technology research and development portfolio, an increase of $325 million.
- $2.3 billion for Earth Science programs, an increase of $250 million.
- $915 million for Aeronautics research and development, an increase of $86 million.
- $20 million for Office of STEM Engagement, an increase of $2.75 million.
“We know this funding increase comes at a time of constrained resources, and we owe it to the president and the American people to be good and responsible stewards of every tax dollar invested in NASA,” Jurczyk said. “The NASA workforce and the American people should be encouraged by what they see in this funding request. It is an investment in our future, and it shows confidence in what this agency has to offer.”
