(ORDO NEWS) — NASA‘s new budget of $180 million is earmarked for the design of a space tug that by 2030 will be able to replace Russia‘s Progress spacecraft and safely sink the ISS in the ocean.
Last week, the US space agency’s budget for fiscal year 2024 was released (it will begin in October of calendar 2023). Its total amount was 27.2 billion dollars, seven percent more than the previous amount.
Of these, NASA will allocate 180 million to the development of a space tug project that will help safely de-orbit the ISS. The agency’s leaders spoke about this at a recent press conference on the new budget.
So far, the completion of the space station is scheduled for 2030. For its information, Russian cargo ships Progress can be used.
However, NASA believes that additional features will make the process more reliable and safer.
The total cost of the tug is just under a billion dollars; 180 million will be allocated only for the first competitive stage of development, following which a project and a contractor will be selected to create a spacecraft.
According to NASA head of manned programs Kathy Lueders, these questions have become especially relevant against the backdrop of a recent series of technical problems that Russian vehicles docked to the ISS have encountered.
This, obviously, is about leaks in the cooling systems of the manned Soyuz in December 2022, as well as Progress in February 2023.
In addition, partners from NASA are concerned about some statements by Roskosmos about early withdrawal from the ISS program in order to build their own national station in orbit.
Another $30 million from NASA’s 2024 budget will go to support the European ExoMars mission.
As part of its launch, the Rosalind Franklin rover on a Russian rocket was supposed to take place at the end of 2022, but now that Roscosmos’ participation in the project has been suspended, it is being “ rebuilt ” for other carriers and terms.
The launch should take place no later than 2028, but what role the American agency is ready to take on in it is not yet clear.
Meanwhile, the main goals for NASA remain the project of returning people to the Moon by 2025 and the start of construction of a circumlunar space station.
In the new budget for the Artemis program, more than eight billion dollars are planned, and $2.5 billion will be directed to the completion of heavy SLS launch vehicles.
In addition, almost a billion will be allocated for the mission to deliver samples of Martian soil to Earth, which the Perseverance rover has already collected and packed into sealed capsules.
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