21 December 2020, 8:14 pm EST By
The U.S. Congress approved the 2021 NASA budget amounting to nearly $23.3 billion. However, the space agency s officials said it will not be enough to support its lunar lander program.
According to 2021 omnibus spending bill released on Dec. 21 after reaching a compromise between the Senate and House bills, NASA will get a total funding of $23.271 billion for the 2021 fiscal year. This was $2 billion less than what the agency s initial request of $25.246 billion, although it was higher than $642 million from its 2020 budget.
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NASA s key exploration programs, including the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System, and Exploration Ground Systems all received funding, which are even above the administration s request. However, for the Human Landing System (HLS) program, the bill only provides $850 million, which merely 25% of the original request of $3.3 billion. Either the Senate or House versions are short to the re