posted 09-15-2025 09:14 AM               

President Donald Trump's vision for America's space program aims to change that. It increases investment in human space exploration by roughly $1 billion and safeguards Artemis, NASA's flagship program to finally return astronauts to the Moon and establish a long-term human presence as a stepping stone to Mars. By cutting waste and sharpening NASA's focus, the budget ensures taxpayers' money drives real exploration rather than endless delays and waste...

...two bold directives, resulting from the budget, make America's intentions clear.

First directive: Fission Surface Power for the Moon. Past lunar missions were limited by power constraints; no crewed mission has lasted more than three days. This directive calls for incorporating small modular nuclear reactors to provide reliable, continuous energy for future lunar bases. This technology has been studied and designed through multiple administrations. Today, we're finally taking it out of the lab and into the field.

Second directive: Accelerating Commercial Space Stations in Low Earth Orbit. The International Space Station is set for deorbit in 2030 and, without a transition plan, NASA risks losing continuous U.S. presence in orbit. America must never surrender low Earth orbit. To that end, this budget accelerates development of commercial space stations, partnering with industry to ensure no gap between the International Space Station's end and the rise of new orbital platforms.

Together, these directives provide the clarity and urgency NASA needs to secure its position as the unrivaled world leader in space exploration. These moves reinforce NASA's exploration goals and maintain U.S. presence both in deep space and in low Earth orbit, thereby ensuring America never retreats from space.

posted 09-15-2025 03:27 PM            

I know there are two potential lunar landers being developed (by SpaceX and by Blue Origin) but I'm pretty sure the only method of returning astronauts to Earth is the Orion spacecraft, as launched by SLS. Doesn't that mean that cancelling SLS effectively cancels Artemis?

posted 09-15-2025 05:01 PM               

That said, the intention remains to move beyond using the SLS to a commercial launch solution, whether it is flying Orion on Falcon Heavy, New Glenn or Vulcan, or using Starship to fly crew and serve as a lander by refueling at the moon, or using a combination of approaches. No decisions have been made as yet (let alone proposals sought).