Posted on 05/09/2025 1:18:46 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Pinching pennies and landing a crew of astronauts on the Moon before a geopolitical rivalry aren't two endeavors that go hand-in-hand. The Trump administration released NASA's proposed 2026 discretionary budget last week. The federal space agency would see a $6 billion cut if implemented as written, roughly a 24% decrease compared to 2025. However, the White House is confusingly still committed to beating China to the lunar surface despite shuttering all the projects working towards that goal.
The proposed 2026 budget has a 10% increase for human space exploration, but the $7 billion allocated won't be used for the significant pieces of technology developed for the Artemis program. The Space Launch System rocket and the accompanying Orion capsule spacecraft have been cancelled. Gateway, the space station slated to be built in lunar orbit, has also been cancelled. Frustratingly, the first Gateway module has already been built in Italy and arrived at Kennedy Space Center in Florida last month.
Adding to the wasted module, SLS and Orion only flew once for the uncrewed Artemis I mission in November 2022. The Trump administration has effectively flushed $47.5 billion down the toilet, according to Time. The stiffest complaints thrown at Artemis have been the budget overruns and development delays. These cancellations would only worsen the situation as NASA is forced to return to square one.
SpaceX could be contracted to launch Artemis missions
Joe Raedle/Getty Images With the current projects canned and a human spaceflight budget increase, the Trump administration is seemingly setting the stage to award a massive contract to a private space company. The contractor would have to develop a commercial platform to deliver NASA's Artemis astronauts to the Moon. Not to mention, the contractor is expected to beat China. The Chinese program's plans to land two taikonauts on the lunar surface by 2030, three years after the Artemis III landing, seemed conservative. Now, the emerging East Asian space power could pass the United States in this new space race.
It's no secret that Elon Musk's SpaceX would be the favorite to win the contract. It's also no secret that the government-gutting CEO detests the effort to return to the Moon and the Artemis program. As always, Musk claimed he could do it faster and cheaper. Let's ignore that delays with Starship's lunar lander are partly why Artemis has been pushed back before. Any crewed lunar exploration program is a protracted and expensive effort that requires steadfast leadership, the antithesis of the Trump White House. I wish the best to the astronauts who are asked to climb aboard a Moon-bound starship. You're gonna need it.
The headline is misleading.
Trump’s budget cuts target bloated legacy systems like SLS and Orion—not the Moon mission itself.
In fact, funding for human spaceflight is up, signaling a strategic shift toward private partners like SpaceX. Musk has already proven that commercial operations can be faster and more cost-effective. By reallocating resources through fixed-price contracts, NASA can leverage proven private-sector capabilities instead of relying on slower, costlier government-built systems.
This is a strategic reset, not a retreat.
Well said.
That is exactly how I see it.
I like that Elon Musk is thinking of how to get to Mars, not the moon. Been there, done that.
I thought it was shaped like a clown-head.
Thanks.
Sending people to the moon is a waste of resources. Sending them to Mars is total insanity. There isn’t anything on Mars that’s worth the cost of sending robots, unless you look at Mars missions as welfare for engineers. But the cost of sending people to do what robots already do better is crazy
Yeah, I’m pretty sure if getting to the Moon is our national goal, today’s politicized DEI NASA is not the agency to get us there. Contract it to SpaceX.
And of course, there is this:
LINK: Haynes Baked Beans Astronaut Ad
That's a non-sequitur
He always has.
Look at Dragon to Space Station, which cost just over half what Boeing was charging, and Musk delivered 4 years ago. Boeing has yet to deliver a working Starliner to and back Starliner
So, South Africa would beat the U.S.?
If you want to fix what is wrong at NASA, start by barring Boeing from any space related contracts. Boeing is a financial “Black Hole”. Money goes in and nothing comes out.
Been there done that, nice try Jalopnik. Turd
Lol…both hilarious!
How dare NASA give up their “muslum outreach”!!!
“It’s also no secret that the government-gutting CEO detests the effort to return to the Moon and the Artemis program.”
Now, am I supposed to figure how who he is referring to? Trump? NASA CEO? Metaphorical person?
My high school English teacher would kick his ass.
Did we or did we not send people to the moon in 1969?
Elon has it covered.
Next.
The South Africa of Musk is now merged with Trump.
The South Africa of Mandela is now merged with the Democratic Party.
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