The administration of US President Joe Biden has released the country’s preliminary budget for fiscal 2022, which gives an idea of ​​its priorities. More money can be allocated for space exploration than before. 

The 55-page budget document, released on 9 April, provides general information only, and a full proposal for objects of expenditure is expected to be prepared later this spring.

The budget assumes the allocation of $ 24,7 billion to the programs of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which is $ 1,5 billion or 6,3% more than in 2021.

Perhaps most notable in it is the $ 6,9 billion proposed for the Artemis moon landing program, which the document notes is $ 325 million more than the US Congress allocated for this program this year. The space agency said the amount allocated includes the costs of preparing for the landing of the first woman and the first non-white astronaut on the moon in the next few years, as well as the development of the Space Launch System, the Orion spacecraft and the Gateway lunar orbiting station.

The preliminary budget also includes funding for the continuation of the Mars exploration mission, including a program to return samples from the Red Planet to Earth, and the allocation of $ 3 billion to continue research on the International Space Station.

The budget also includes:

• Funding for the Nancy Grace Rome Space Telescope.
• Funding for the Clipper mission to study Jupiter’s moon Europa and the Dragonfly mission to study Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.
• A commitment of $ 1,4 billion to research and development in space and aviation technologies, with a focus on greener and more efficient technologies.

NASA will also receive $ 2,3 billion in Earth science programs to better understand how our planet functions and predict the impact of climate change.