President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2019 budget proposal would allocate approximately $20 billion for NASA and cancel the space agency’s funding of the International Space Station in 2025, Nextgov reported Monday.The proposal also includes funding for partnerships with private firms to send robots to the moon and advances a plan to launch the initial segment of a lunar-orbiting habitat by 2020 through a commercial launch vehicle.
The continued development of the Boeing-built Space Launch System and the Lockheed Martin-made Orion spacecraft for a deep space exploration mission in 2020 would be funded in the proposed budget.
The proposal also funds the construction of Boeing’s and SpaceX’s spacecraft designed to bring astronauts to the ISS in 2019, the report added.
SpaceNews also reported the budget request includes $150 million in funds to help private companies build commercial capabilities as potential successors to the ISS in low-Earth orbit.
“[I]t is possible that industry could continue to operate certain elements or capabilities of the ISS as part of a future commercial platform,†according to an internal agency document obtained by the publication.
“It is the intent of NASA and the administration to maintain seamless access to a human platform in LEO that meets NASA’s and the nation’s goals,†the document added.
