The recent budget cuts to NASA could delay the launch of the planned manned space mission launch in 2017. Government sequesters of the NASA budget have slashed over $900 Million dollars, and further budget cuts could come if the government does not find a solution for the sequester situation for the government's budget.
So far, the planned space mission is still on time, but Nasa Administrator Charles Bolden has told Computerworld that he is worried that further cuts to the budget could delay the future mission.
"We're still marching along on our 2017 initial flight for a crewed vehicle...So far, we don't see any significant impact with the rest of this fiscal year, but if we can't get out of this sequester condition, it could slow down our progress on a commercial crew... We already are talking to our partners about delays in milestones if we don't get the funding that we want..."
Bolden does not see the sequester, which is set to last until 2021, affecting the NASA budget for this year,but the longer the cuts last, it will start affecting projects down the line. These budget cuts do not affect independent space programs, such as the SpaceX program, which resupplied the International Space Station this week. In addition, the Orbital Sciences company is scheduled to launch both test flights and official resupply launches for the ISS this year.
NASA has faced several recent budget cuts over the years, as the government tries to say money anywhere it can. This has allowed independent companies such as SpaceX and Orbital Sciences to launch their very own flights, the first outside of direct government control. While many have celebrated this new age of commercial space flights, many are clamoring for NASA to return to the forefront of american spaceflight
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