An omnibus spending bill for fiscal 2017 that passed both chambers of Congress would allocate $19.65 billion for NASA.The allocation represents a $368 million increase in funds the space agency received in FY 2016 and $628 million more than the Obama administration’s budget request, Space News reported Friday.
The spending package would authorize $275 million to fund NASA’s work on the Europa Clipper project and a follow-on lander mission.
The bill would allocate $5.76 billion in funds for the agency’s science programs, a $175 million increase from NASA’s budget last year.
The space agency’s planetary science and astrophysics programs would respectively receive $1.85 billion and $750 million in funds under the spending legislation.
Earth science projects would get $1.9 billion in funds, while heliophysics-related initiatives would receive a budget of $678.5 million for the remaining months of fiscal 2017, the report added.
President Donald Trump signed the omnibus spending measure Friday a day after the Senate voted 79-18 to avoid a government shutdown.
