NASA’s topline budget for fiscal 2013 will be reduced by $726.7 million as compared to its budget request if sequestration takes effect March 1, with a significant portion of that cut being absorbed by the agency’s efforts to nurture commercial systems for transporting crew and cargo to low Earth orbit.
“Sequestration would reduce Commercial Space Flight funding by $441.6 million below the FY 2013 budget request,” writes Administrator Charles Bolden in a letter to Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.).
As a result, NASA would not be able to make fourth-quarter milestone payments to the industry teams working on the Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) program, including for SpaceX’s Inflight Abort Test Review, Boeing’s Orbital Maneuvering and Attitude Control Engine Development Test, and the Sierra Nevada Corp.’s Integrated System Safety Analysis Review #2, according to Bolden.
“Overall availability of commercial crew transportation services would be significantly delayed, thereby extending our reliance on foreign providers for crew transportation to the International Space Station,” he says.
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