NASA Appropriations and Authorizations: Fact Sheet

Congressional Research Service

Contents

Overview ......................................................................................................................................... 1

Figures

Figure 1. NASA Funding, FY1958-FY2024 ................................................................................... 6

Tables

Table 1. NASA Budget Authority, FY2019-FY2024....................................................................... 2 Table 2. NASA Appropriations, FY2024......................................................................................... 3 Table 3. NASA Appropriations, FY2025, and Proposed FY2025 Authorization ............................ 4

Contacts

Author Information .......................................................................................................................... 7

NASA Appropriations and Authorizations: Fact Sheet

Congressional Research Service 1

Overview

Congressional deliberations about the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) often focus on the availability of funding. This fact sheet provides data on past and current NASA appropriations, as well as the President’s FY2025 budget request and congressional action on FY2025 appropriations and authorization of appropriations.

Table 1 shows budget authority for NASA for FY2019-FY2024. Except where noted, the amounts shown include regular appropriations, supplemental appropriations, rescissions, transfers, and reprogramming. They are taken from NASA’s congressional budget justifications for FY2021-FY2025;¹ the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (P.L. 118-42); and the explanatory statement for that act, Congressional Record, March 5, 2024, pp. S1141-S1142. Congressional budget justifications are available on the NASA budget website, https://www.nasa.gov/budgets-plans-and-reports/, for the current year and for past years back to FY2010.

Table 2 shows FY2024 appropriations provided by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (P.L. 118-42), compared with FY2023 regular appropriations as enacted; the Administration’s request for FY2024; FY2024 appropriations as recommended in the bill introduced by the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (H.R. 5893 as introduced and explanatory material on the committee website at https://appropriations.house.gov/sites/republicans.appropriations.house.gov/files/FY24-CJS- Explanatory-Materials.pdf); and FY2024 appropriations recommended by the Senate Committee on Appropriations (S. 2321 as reported and S.Rept. 118-62). Note that the NASA Authorization Act of 2022 (P.L. 117-167, Title VII), which is the most recently enacted authorization, did not include authorizations of appropriations for NASA for FY2024.

Table 3 compares FY2024 regular appropriations as enacted with the Administration’s request for FY2025; FY2025 amounts contained in H.R. 9026 as introduced and H.Rept. 118-582; and the FY2025 amounts that would be authorized by H.R. 8958, referred to herein as the NASA Reauthorization Act of 2024, as ordered reported by the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology on July 10, 2024.² Additional columns will be added to this table as Congress acts to complete FY2025 authorization and appropriations legislation for NASA.

A note on name changes: Since the FY2019 budget request, the Trump and Biden Administrations have proposed renaming the Exploration account as Deep Space Exploration Systems; enacted appropriations have so far retained the name Exploration. Starting with the FY2023 budget, NASA renamed Exploration Systems Development as Common Exploration Systems Development and Exploration R&D as Artemis Campaign Development. In the FY2025 budget, NASA renamed the latter two items as Moon to Mars Transportation System and Moon to Mars Lunar Systems Development.

Figure 1 shows NASA’s total annual budget authority from the agency’s establishment in FY1958 to FY2024, in both current dollars and inflation-adjusted FY2024 dollars.

1 FY2019 STEM Engagement amounts are not shown in the FY2021 congressional budget justification and are instead taken from the explanatory statement for the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (P.L. 116-93), Congressional Record, December 17, 2019, pp. H10969-H10971.

2 H.R. 8958 was ordered to be reported, but had not been reported as of July 24, 2024. While the official reported text of H.R. 8958 is not yet available, the amendments adopted during the markup did not appear to change the introduced bill provisions regarding FY2025 authorization amounts. (House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, “Full Committee Markup of the NASA Reauthorization Act of 2024,” July 10, 2024, https://science.house.gov/2024/7/full- committee-markup-of-the-nasa-reauthorization-act-of-2024.)

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Table 1. NASA Budget Authority, FY2019-FY2024

(in $ millions)

FY2019 FY2020 FY2021 FY2022 FY2023 FY2024

Science $6,887 $7,143^a $7,291 $7,611 $7,792 $7,334

Earth Science 1,931 1,972 1,997 2,061 2,175 2,195

Planetary Science 2,747 2,713 2,693 3,120 3,217 2,717

Astrophysics 1,191 1,306 1,356 1,394 1,510 1,530

James Webb Space Telescope 305 423 415 175 —^b —^b

Heliophysics 713 725 751 778 805 805

Biological and Physical Sciences^c — 5 79 83 85 88

Aeronautics 725 784 829 881 935 935

Space Technology 927 1,100 1,100 1,100 1,193 1,100

Exploration 5,045 5,960 6,397 6,855 7,448 7,666

Exploration Systems Development 4,087 4,513 4,539 4,591 4,717 4,533

Orion 1,350 1,407 1,404 1,402 1,315 1,139

Space Launch System 2,144 2,528 2,555 2,600 2,567 2,600

Exploration Ground Systems 593 578 580 589 835 794

Expl. R&D / Artemis Campaign Dev. 958 1,447 1,858 2,077 2,631 n/s

Other — — — 187

101 n/s

Space Operations 4,640 4,135 4,102 3,975 4,267 4,220

International Space Station 1,490 1,516 1,322 1,262 1,286 n/s

Space Transportation 2,110 1,746 1,872 1,717 1,760 n/s

Crew and Cargo Program 1,896 1,511 1,573 1,570 1,642 1,856

Space and Flight Support 1,000 857 890 889 983 n/s

Commercial LEO Development 40 15 18 102 224 228

Exploration Operations — — — 5 13 n/s

STEM Engagement 110 120 127 137 144 143

Space Grant 44 48 51 55 58 58

EPSCoR 21 24 26 26 26 26

MUREP 33 36 38 43 46 46

Other 12 12 12 14 14 14

Safety, Security, & Mission Svcs. 2,755 2,913^d 2,937 3,021 3,137 3,129

Construction and EC&R 372 433 446 417 612^e 300

Inspector General 39 42 44 45 48 48

Total 21,500 22,629^a,d 23,271 24,041 25,573^e 24,875

Sources: FY2019-FY2023 from NASA FY2021-FY2025 congressional budget justifications. FY2024 from P.L. 118-42 and explanatory statement, Congressional Record, March 5, 2024, pp. S1141-S1142. Notes: Except where noted, amounts include regular appropriations, supplemental appropriations, rescissions, transfers, and reprogramming. Some totals may not add because of rounding. R&D = Research and Development. LEO = Low Earth Orbit. STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. EPSCoR = Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research. MUREP = Minority University Research and Education Program. EC&R = Environmental Compliance and Remediation. n/s = not specified. a. Not adjusted to reflect rescission of $70 million from prior year unobligated balances (Section 521(c)).

b. Included in Astrophysics.

c. Included in International Space Station before FY2020.

d. Does not include additional $60 million appropriated by the CARES Act (P.L. 116-136).

e. Includes $556.4 million in emergency supplemental funding provided in Division N of P.L. 117-328.

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Table 2. NASA Appropriations, FY2024

(budget authority in $ millions)

FY2024 Appropriations

FY2023

Enacted Request

House

Intro.

Senate

Cmte. Enacted

Science $7,795 $8,261 $7,380 $7,341 $7,334

Earth Science 2,195 2,473 2,000 2,219 2,195

Planetary Science 3,200 3,383 3,100 2,683 2,717

Astrophysics 1,510 1,557 1,485 1,544 1,530

Heliophysics 805 751 710 805 805

Biological and Physical Sciences 85 97 85 90 88

Aeronautics 935 996 946 935 935

Space Technology 1,200 1,392 1,205 1,118 1,100

Exploration / Deep Space Exploration Systems 7,469 7,971 7,971 7,736 7,666

Common Exploration Systems Development 4,738 4,525 4,525 4,525 4,733

Orion 1,339 1,225 1,225 1,225 1,139

Space Launch System 2,600 2,506 2,506 2,506 2,600

Exploration Ground Systems 799 794 794 794 794

Artemis Campaign Development 2,600 3,235 3,235 n/s n/s

Human Exploration Requirements and Architecture n/s 49 n/s n/s n/s

Mars Campaign Development n/s 162 n/s n/s n/s

Space Operations 4,250 4,535 4,345 4,200 4,220

International Space Station n/s 1,303 n/s n/s n/s

Space Transportation n/s 1,957 n/s n/s n/s

Crew and Cargo Program n/s 1,856 n/s 1,856 1,856

Space and Flight Support n/s 1,047 n/s n/s n/s

Commercial LEO Development 224 228 n/s 228 228

STEM Engagement 144 158 89 144 143

Space Grant 58 58 60 58 58

EPSCoR 26 26 29 26 26

MUREP 46 48 0 46 46

Other 14 26 0 14 14

Safety, Security, and Mission Services 3,129 3,369 3,136 3,100 3,129

Construction and EC&R 604^a 454 248 379 300

Inspector General 48 50 48 48 48

Total 25,573^a 27,185 25,367 25,000 24,875

Sources: FY2023 Enacted: P.L. 117-328 and explanatory statement, Congressional Record, December 20, 2022, pp. S7945-S7950. FY2024 Request: FY2024 NASA congressional budget justification. FY2024 House Introduced: H.R. 5893 as introduced and explanatory material on the House Appropriations Committee website at https://appropriations.house.gov/sites/republicans.appropriations.house.gov/files/FY24-CJS-Explanatory- Materials.pdf. FY2024 Senate Committee: S. 2321 as reported and S.Rept. 118-62. FY2024 Enacted: P.L. 118-42 and explanatory statement, Congressional Record, March 5, 2024, pp. S1141-S1142. Notes: Some totals may not add up due to rounding. LEO = Low Earth Orbit. STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. EPSCoR = Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research. MUREP = Minority University Research and Education Program. EC&R = Environmental Compliance and Remediation. n/s = not specified.

NASA Appropriations and Authorizations: Fact Sheet

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a. Includes $556.4 million in emergency supplemental funding provided in Division N of P.L. 117-328.

Table 3. NASA Appropriations, FY2025, and Proposed FY2025 Authorization

(budget authority in $ millions)

FY2025 Appropriations

FY2025

Auth.

FY2024

Enacted Request

House Cmte. Senate Enacted

House

Cmte.^a

Science $7,334 $7,566 $7,334 $7,334

Earth Science 2,195 2,379 2,000 2,930

n/s

Planetary Science 2,717 2,732 2,930 n/s

Astrophysics 1,530 1,578 1,532 n/s

Heliophysics 805 787 787 n/s

Biological and Physical Sciences 88 91 85 n/s

Aeronautics 935 966 966 966

Space Technology 1,100 1,182 1,182 1,182

Exploration / Deep Space Exploration Systems 7,666 7,618 7,618 7,618

Common Exploration Systems Development^b 4,733 4,213 4,738 n/s

Orion 1,139 1,031 1,339 n/s

Space Launch System 2,600 2,423 2,600 n/s

Exploration Ground Systems 794 759 799 n/s

Artemis Campaign Development^c n/s 3,288 n/s n/s

Human Exploration Requirements and Architecture n/s 117 n/s n/s

Mars Campaign Development^d n/s — n/s n/s

Space Operations 4,220 4,390 4,474 4,474

International Space Station n/s 1,270 n/s

n/s

Space Transportation n/s 1,862 n/s n/s

Crew and Cargo Program 1,856 1,762 1,890 n/s

Space and Flight Support n/s 1,088 n/s

n/sn/sn

n/s

Commercial LEO Development 228 170 n/s

n/s

STEM Engagement 143 144 89.0 135

Space Grant 58 57 60.0 n/s

EPSCoR 26 25 29.0 n/s

MUREP 46 46 n/s n/s

Other 14 15 n/s n/s

Safety, Security, and Mission Services 3,129 3,044 3,044 3,044

Construction and EC&R 300 424 424 424

Inspector General 48 51 48 48

Total 24,875 25,384 25,179 25,225

Sources: FY2024 Enacted: P.L. 118-42 and explanatory statement, Congressional Record, March 5, 2024, pp. S1141-S1142. FY2025 Request: FY2025 NASA congressional budget justification. FY2025 House: H.R. 9026 as introduced and H.Rept. 118-582. FY2025 House Authorization: NASA Authorization Act of 2024 (H.R. 8958), as ordered reported by the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology on July 10, 2025, https://science.house.gov/markups?ContentRecord_id=F6543C82-0980-435B-BFDF-4DC3EF41EFD5.

NASA Appropriations and Authorizations: Fact Sheet

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Notes: Some totals may not add because of rounding. LEO = Low Earth Orbit. STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. EPSCoR = Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research. MUREP = Minority University Research and Education Program. EC&R = Environmental Compliance and Remediation. n/s = not specified. a. H.R. 8958 was ordered to be reported but had not been reported as of July 24, 2024. While the official reported text of H.R. 8958 is not yet available, the amendments adopted during the markup did not appear to change the introduced bill provisions regarding FY2025 authorization amounts.

b. Referred to in the FY2025 request as “Moon to Mars Transportation System.”

c. Referred to in the FY2025 request as “Moon to Mars Lunar Systems Development.”

d. As noted in the FY2025 request, NASA intends to retire its Mars Campaign Development theme and will reallocate its content elsewhere in the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (p. DEXP- 69).