Defunding the High Ground

As China builds the Earth-Moon link, the U.S. walks away from Cislunar space

Good morning,

President Trump has sent his ‘skinny’ budget to Congress. This is an early draft of the formal President’s Budget Request (PBR) that outlines broad priorities but lacks specific funding details.

As far as space goes, the budget seeks $113B increase to DoD for things that includes funding for the missile shield known as Golden Dome, space dominance technologies, shipbuilding, nuclear deterrence, and the F-47 aircraft.

And, while the Pentagon is enjoying a boost, NASA is forced to balance deep cuts with incorrect priorities. The budget puts a billion dollars towards Mars-focused programs, even as it seeks to terminate the Mars Sample Return mission. In other words, that billion dollars will largely flow to SpaceX for its Martian ambitions.

The budget claims to provide $7B for Lunar exploration, but kills several important Lunar programs including: SLS, Orion, and Gateway. We’re actually okay with killing SLS. That has proven to be a money-pit.

In total, the ‘skinny…