FY 2015 Appropriations: NASA

Congress is nearing completion of the FY 2015 appropriations cycle. The House and Senate are scheduled to complete action on a $1.1trillion bill providing funding through September 30, 2015 for all departments and agencies with the exception of the Department of Homeland Security that will be funded through early 2015.

The bill has not been printed in final form. The section on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is found on PDF pages 42-48, with a funding table on PDF page 68. Note that language in the previous House and Senate appropriations reports stands unless modified by language in the conference report.

Total NASA:

The FY 2014 appropriation was $17,646.5 million
The FY 2015 request is $17,460.6 million, a decrease of $185.9 million or 1.1 percent
The House bill provides $17,896.0 million, an increase of $249.5 million or 1.4 percent above current funding
The Senate bill provides $17,900.0 million, an increase of $253.5 million or 1.4 percent above current funding
The final bill provides $18,010.2 million, an increase of $363.7 million or 2.1 percent above current funding

There is no overall conference report language; a funding table is included.

Within NASA are the following programs:

Science:

The FY 2014 appropriation was $5,151.2 million
The FY 2015 request is $4,972.0 million, a decrease of $179.2 million or 3.5 percent
The House bill provides $5,193.0 million, an increase of $41.8 million or 0.8 percent above current funding
The Senate bill provides $5,200.0 million, an increase of $48.8 million or 0.9 percent above current funding
The final bill provides $5,244.7 million, an increase of $93.5 million or 1.8 percent above current funding

The conference report has language on “Education and Public Outreach,” “Earth Science,” “Planetary Science,” “Astrophysics,” and “Heliophysics.”

Aeronautics:

The FY 2014 appropriation was $566.0 million
The FY 2015 request is $551.1 million, a decrease of $14.9 million or 2.6 percent
The House bill provides $666.0 million, an increase of $100.0 million or 17.7 percent above current funding
The Senate bill provides $551.1 million, a decrease of $14.9 million or 2.6 percent below current funding
The final bill provides $651.0 million, an increase of $85.0 million or 15.0 percent above current funding

There was no conference report language.

Space Technology:

The FY 2014 appropriation was $576.0 million
The FY 2015 request is $705.5 million, an increase of $129.5 million or 22.5 percent
The House bill provides $620.0 million, an increase of $44.0 million or 7.6 percent above current funding
The Senate bill provides $580.2 million, an increase of $4.2 million or 0.7 percent above current funding
The final bill provides $596.0 million, an increase of $20.0 million or 3.5 percent above current funding

There was no conference report language.

Exploration:

The FY 2014 appropriation was $4,113.2 million
The FY 2015 request is $3,976.0 million, a decrease of $137.2 million or 3.3 percent
The House bill provides $4,167.0 million, an increase of $53.8 million or 1.3 percent above current funding
The Senate bill provides $4,367.7 million, an increase of $254.5 million or 6.2 percent above current funding
The final bill provides $4,356.7 million, an increase of $243.5 million or 5.9 percent above current funding

The conference report has language on “Human Exploration Capabilities,” “Commercial Crew Program,” and “Exploration and Research.”

Space Operations:

The FY 2014 appropriation was $3,778.0 million
The FY 2015 request is $3,905.4 million, an increase of $127.4 million or 3.4 percent
The House bill provides $3,885.0 million, an increase of $107.0 million or 2.8 percent above current funding
The Senate bill provides $3,830.8 million, an increase of $52.8 million or 1.4 percent above current funding
The final bill provides $3,827.8 million, an increase of $49.8 million or 1.3 percent above current funding

The conference report has language on “Commercial Crew,” “Satellite Servicing,” and “Space and Flight Support.”

Education:

The FY 2014 appropriation is $116.6 million
The FY 2015 request is $88.9 million, a decrease of $27.7 million or 23.8 percent
The House bill provides $106.0 million, a decrease of $10.6 million or 9.1 percent below current funding
The Senate bill provides $108.0 million, a decrease of $8.6 million or 7.4 percent below current funding
The final bill provides $119.0 million, an increase of $2.4 million or 2.1 percent above current funding

The conference report has language on “Space Grant.”