FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

News

Trump doesn't want to pay for the Space Station

The ISS costs the U.S. between $3 billion and $4 billion a year.
Getty Images

Donald Trump will cut financial support for the International Space Station by 2024, according to draft budget proposals seen by the Verge.

NASA, which has helped finance the ISS for more than two decades, will likely redirect funds toward future moon missions and deep space travel.

The move could save the space agency upwards of $4 billion a year, but it could also limit opportunities for U.S. astronauts as the agency only has vehicles in development and none are currently operational.

Advertisement

The approved version of the budget request will be released on Feb. 12. Sources told the Verge ending ISS support will likely remain in the final bill.

Initially launched in 1998, the space station has cost the U.S. budget more than $87 billion, draining between $3 billion and $4 billion a year to maintain.

The Obama administration announced in 2014 it would extend support for the station through 2024, but its future beyond that date is unclear.

Most experts believe that 2028 will mark the end of the ISS’ operational life, leaving a major gap for both public and commercial space exploration and testing.

Commercial space companies such as SpaceX and Boeing have lobbied NASA to extend its support for the station until 2028, as it provides a testing ground for rocket and satellite technologies.

The race for space domination has shifted in recent years with China and India, the U.S. and Russia all battling for dominance, flanked by competition from the burgeoning private space sector.

China announced last year a laundry list of future developments, include building its own space station, establishing a permanent moon base, and making a trip to Mars.

NASA hasn’t sent people beyond low-Earth orbit since 1972, but a recent push from President Trump prompted the agency to look at returning astronauts to the moon. The agency is also developing vehicles needed to explore deep space, including a giant rocket, known as the Space Launch System, and a crew capsule called Orion.

Funding these plans will not be cheap, hence the likely decision to pull money from the ISS.

Cover image: The International Space Station and the docked space shuttle Endeavour orbit Earth during Endeavour's final sortie on May 23, 2011, in space. (Paolo Nespoli - ESA/NASA via Getty Images)