If enacted by Congress, the budget would also phase out NASA's Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, which the agency was developing to return astronauts to the moon.

The bill also reflects ideas advanced in the Big, Beautiful Bill in that it funds the Space Launch System and the Orion spacecraft past Artemis III and the Lunar Gateway.

NASA’s Artemis I Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, with the Orion capsule attached, launches at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on November 16, 2022 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

In May, the White House released a budget proposal that would slash NASA funding. But a Senate appropriations plan would protect the agency's budget.

NASA’s SLS rocket and Orion capsule programs received significant funding after previously being on the chopping block for NASA budget cuts.

Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill adds $9.9 billion to NASA’s budget, reversing plans to cut the Space Launch System and Orion.

The Orion spacecraft was also in his crosshairs. But Congress made sure America’s only human-rated, deep space rocket is protected. And so is the Marshall Space Flight Center, for the most part, ...

More than $10 billion in funds are included in Trump’s tax and spending bill for NASA programs previously targeted by the president after Sen. Ted Cruz led a Senate amendment to rescue them.

The Orion capsule and Lunar Gateway programs are also on the chopping block. If Congress votes to cancel the SLS rocket, it is uncertain what will happen.

Lockheed Martin reports that the Orion capsule assigned to Artemis III has had its computers powered on and tested for the first time.

The Trump administration proposed its spending budget for the 2026 fiscal year, including a series of cuts aimed at NASA.

Lockheed Martin officials handed over the "keys" to the Artemis 2 Orion spacecraft to NASA, marking the start of its processing for launch.