The fight over government spending is reaching 250 miles above the Earth’s surface.
The International Space Station for more than two decades has been the centerpiece of human spaceflight at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Government leaders are now jousting over funding for the ISS, while NASA is signaling it will start pulling back on some station activities ahead of its planned decommissioning in 2030, when private space stations are envisioned taking its place.
Last month, NASA directed Boeing
The fight over government spending is reaching 250 miles above the Earth’s surface.
The International Space Station for more than two decades has been the centerpiece of human spaceflight at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Government leaders are now jousting over funding for the ISS, while NASA is signaling it will start pulling back on some station activities ahead of its planned decommissioning in 2030, when private space stations are envisioned taking its place.
Last month, NASA directed Boeing to cut back on station-related services that the aerospace giant manages under a longstanding contract, according to a letter viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Officials at the agency are studying sending smaller crews to the ISS instead of the typical four, translating to less onboard research.
Sean Duffy, NASA’s acting administrator, on Monday laid out a plan that would provide agency support for a wider range of private stations under development. In a memo viewed by the Journal, Duffy said the approach would give NASA and station developers more flexibility.
“It is important to move quickly,” he said in the memo. The order was one of Duffy’s first moves since President Trump appointed him to run NASA on a temporary basis in July, a role he is handling in addition to leading the Transportation Department.
NASA is famed for sending astronauts to the moon, but the space station has been the focal point of its high-profile human missions in recent decades. NASA and international crews have continuously manned the facility for almost 25 years, the agency has said, pursuing science and studying how humans can live in orbit.
The ISS—managed by the U.S., Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada—is also showing its age. Leaks in part of the station operated by Russia keep occurring.
Earlier this year, the White House proposed cutting funding for the ISS, saying in a budget pitch that NASA should focus efforts there on “very limited” research that is essential to exploration of the moon and Mars.
Many members of Congress have pushed back. The ISS received money in the Republicans’ landmark tax-and-budget bill, and a recent Senate legislative report said NASA should “maintain the fullest possible use of ISS through end of life.”
U.S. government leaders want to avoid any gap between the ISS and future private facilities—in large part because China has its own station, called Tiangong, now flying.
“We must put the necessary systems in place to support and command American astronauts continually in low Earth orbit,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas), chairman of the Commerce Committee, during a hearing in April. “We cannot surrender low Earth orbit to the Chinese or to the Russians.”
U.S. companies aiming to build private facilities in low-Earth orbit include Voyager Technologies, Axiom Space, Vast and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. SpaceX has considered using part of its Starship vehicle as an orbital station as well.
Several companies have received NASA funding to help develop commercial stations that could replace the ISS, and the agency has struck unfunded agreements with other firms working on station efforts. Building and deploying a new facility could cost around $3 billion or more, according to station developers.
Many executives have expected NASA this year to begin picking one or more station developers to receive bigger contracts, narrowing the field of developers.
The directive from Duffy moves away from that approach, instructing staff to instead continue supporting a range of station development work.
Duffy on Monday also issued a separate memo calling for NASA to accelerate work to develop nuclear power facilities on the moon and Mars. Politico reported earlier on his memos.
Write to Micah Maidenberg at micah.maidenberg@wsj.com
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