America first, space second.
The Trump administration wants to cut off funding to the International Space Station (ISS) after 2024 — when it could hand the laboratory over to a private company.
“The decision to end direct federal support for the ISS in 2025 does not imply that the platform itself will be deorbited at that time — it is possible that industry could continue to operate certain elements or capabilities of the ISS as part of a future commercial platform,” reads an internal NASA document obtained by the Washington Post.
“NASA will expand international and commercial partnerships over the next seven years in order to ensure continued human access to and presence in low Earth orbit.”
Human waste turned into astronaut food
The space station is a joint effort between several space agencies from around the world.
(NASA/REUTERS)The White House’s budget request for the fiscal year ending in September 2019 — which is set to be released Monday — will ask for $150 million “to enable the development and maturation of commercial entities and capabilities which will ensure that commercial successors to the ISS — potentially including elements of the ISS — are operational when they are needed.”
The administration’s plan comes after a week of rumors that it might stop directing resources toward the 20-year-old laboratory, which NASA launched in partnership with space agencies from other countries.
Aeronautics giant Boeing currently operates the station — which weighs roughly 460 tons — on behalf of NASA. Running the facility reportedly costs up to $4 billion each year.
Trump last year signed an order to restart missions to the moon.
(Evan Vucci/AP)The idea of handing the keys to the space station over to a private company is still in the early stages, according to the Washington Post.
Budget may end support for International Space Station by 2025
The NASA document indicates the administration “will request market analysis and business plans from the commercial sector and solicit plans from commercial industry” as it hammers out a fuller plan.
Researchers are trying to figure out if the space station could last beyond its current lifespan, which is set to run into 2028, the Washington Post reported.
Cruz previously panned the decision to cut off funding to ISS after billions of dollars had been poured into the low-orbit laboratory.
(Scott Olson/Getty Images)Walking away from ISS altogether has been panned by lawmakers after pouring so much taxpayer money into it.
“As a fiscal conservative, you know one of the dumbest things you can do is cancel programs after billions in investment when there is still serious usable life ahead,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said last week, according to the Washington Post.
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