House Bill Deeply Cuts Commercial Crew Budget, Institutes Loan Program

Artists conception of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft in orbit

A House funding bill would provide NASA with $250 million in direct funding and $500 in loan guarantees over the next five years to support the development of commercial crew vehicles.

This funding level is far below the $6 billion, five-year program proposed by the Obama Administration earlier this year. A compromise funding bill introduced in the Senate last week — which the White House has given support — would provide $1.3 billion over the next three years for commercial crew development.

Under the House bill, NASA would receive $50 million per year over five years in direct funding. The loan program would be funded at $100 million per year over that same period.

The House proposal also sharply reduced the amount of funding for NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program, which is funding cargo delivery to the International Space Station. The Administration requested $312 million for the program in FY2011, the Senate bill funds the effort at $144 million, and the House bill provides $14 million.

In a press release, House members trumpeted that the bill “provides more than $4.9 billion in funding for commercial crew- and commercial cargo-related initiatives.” However, the majority of the funding is for routine cargo delivery to the space station.

Space News reports that the $500 million commercial crew loan program is designed to protect taxpayers’ investment in an unproven field:

A House Republican staffer said the loan program is designed to ensure that U.S. taxpayer money is reimbursed — with interest — before the government risks billions of dollars to nurture a commercial crew transportation industry.

“By offering a loan and loan guarantee program, we hope to leverage the talents of the free market and at the same time hopefully reduce wasteful and unproductive efforts,” the aide said. “The bill provides up to half-a-billion dollars to companies that demonstrate responsible, rational and credible plans. If a legitimate, free-market-based business case for commercial crew can be demonstrated, then borrowers will be able to repay the loans to NASA, allowing the taxpayers to reap some of the financial rewards for making such a large capital outlay.”

The House measure also would require NASA to hold privately developed space taxis to the same safety standards the agency enforces for government-owned and -operated systems. The bill further directs that the per-seat cost for commercial crew systems not exceed that of the government-owned capabilities called for in the legislation.

Space News reports that the House funding effort got a big thumbs down from Bretton Alexander, president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation.

“Based on the proposed levels of funding for Russian Soyuz flights versus commercial crew services, it would appear that the House Science Committee has more faith in Russian technology developed in the 1960s than in America’s own aerospace industry,” Alexander said in a July 19 e-mail, asserting that the bill fails to fund the goals it sets for the agency. “At a time when private companies are willing to invest their own money to help create jobs, the House Science Committee bill is a clear job destroyer.”

The House and Senate bills will need to be reconciled in conference in consultation with the White House and NASA’s leadership.