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US adds $10B to NASA's Moon plan opposed by Musk
02 Jul 2025

The US Senate has approved President Donald Trump's budget reconciliation bill, allocating an additional $10 billion to NASA's Artemis Moon program.

The funding will be used for more Space Launch System (SLS) rockets and a lunar orbiting station called Gateway.

The decision goes against the wishes of critics like SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, who was proposed by Musk as the next NASA Administrator.

Musk calls SLS rocket 'fully expendable'
Expendable rockets

Musk has been critical of the SLS rocket, calling it fully expendable. He argued that each launch costs around $1 billion, which is an understatement according to NASA's watchdog.

Recent estimates put recurring production costs around $2.5 billion for each SLS launch.

So far, some $24 billion has gone into SLS production, mostly funding a consortium of aerospace primes like Boeing and Northrop Grumman.

Isaacman questioned SLS during Senate confirmation hearings
Long-term strategy

During his Senate confirmation hearings, Isaacman questioned the massive sums spent on SLS.

He endorsed using SLS for the next two Artemis missions but said he didn't think it was "the long-term way to get to and from the Moon and Mars with great frequency."

Despite these concerns, Congress has chosen to move forward with funding additional rockets for future Artemis missions.

Breakdown of the new funding
Budget breakdown

Of the total $10 billion added to the bill, around $4.1 billion will go toward additional SLS rockets for Artemis missions 4 and 5.

Around $2.6 billion will be used for completing the Gateway station.

The new funding also includes $700 million for a new Mars Telecommunications Orbiter, and $1.25 billion for extended operation of the International Space Station (ISS).

SpaceX to develop ISS deorbit spacecraft
Deorbit spacecraft

The new funding also allocates $325 million to SpaceX for developing a spacecraft to deorbit the ISS at the end of the decade.

The total award for this deorbit spacecraft is $843 million.

Notably, Trump's fiscal year budget request for NASA submitted in May suggested "phasing out the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft after Artemis III." However, this new funding contradicts that proposal.