Government Space Budgets

United States Government Space Budget


2012 – RDT&E and IR&D funding

Independent research and development (IR&D), another infrastructure support industry, covers research and development activities initiated and funded by defense contractors independent of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). Space-related IR&D is estimated by applying the percentage of space R&D versus total DoD R&D to the total amount of all IR&D spending according to the Defense Contract Audit Agency. Space IR&D spending was estimated at $## million in 2012, a slight decrease from the $## million estimated for 2011. This decrease stems from declines in both government-funded space R&D and the overall level of IR&D as tracked by the DoD. 

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2012 – U.S. National Security Space Budgets

Global military space spending is significant, but difficult to quantify. There are often major differences in how governments identify civil government versus military spending. Also, information on many aspects of military space spending is not publicly available. Despite these challenges, military space spending is estimated for this report using a methodology that combines public data with estimates for areas where data is not available. For example, total U.S. military space spending in fiscal year 2012 is calculated by applying the growth in identifiable DoD unclassified military space programs to the FY 2011 total DoD space spending figure. The 2011 figure is based on public statements made by top DoD space officials.

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2012 – U.S. Civil Space Budgets

NASA’s FY 2012 budget, provided as a Congressional appropriation through Public Law 112-55, The Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012, represented a ##% decrease from the agency’s FY 2011 enacted budget of $## billion.

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2012 – United States Government Space Budget Overview

The United States was responsible for ##% of global government space spending in 2012. During FY 2012, which ran from October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012, U.S. government agency space budgets totaled $## billion, a ##% increase from 2011. Defense-related space activities, comprising the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), totaled $## billion, or ##% of U.S. government space spending. The remaining ##% comprised space-related spending by NASA, the Department of Energy (DOE), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Department of the Interior (DOI), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF), which collectively budgeted $## billion for space activities.

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Economy: Space Economy – TSR 2012

Economy: Space Economy - TSR 2012 an annual review of the commercial space infrastructure and support industries and space-based products and services used on Earth. This edition also delves into the…

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2011 – U.S. Civil Space Budgets – Snapshot

NASA’s FY 2011 actual budget, reached as a result of seven CRs and Public Law 112-10¸ decreased by ##% from the agency’s FY 2010 actual budget, including FY 2010 funds received from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act economic stimulus package. Operating under the series of CRs impacted NASA’s ability to effectively implement its programs. In 2010, Congress and the President agreed to cancel the planned Constellation Program. However, as a result of the CRs during FY 2011, NASA was required to continue spending funds on its existing programs, including Constellation. While flexibility in internal funds allocation allowed NASA to focus much of its Constellation spending during early 2011 on elements of the program which will continue in future years, including the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) and the J-2X rocket engine, funds were nonetheless spent on elements of the Constellation program which would not continue in the future.

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2011 – U.S. National Security Space Budgets – Snapshot

Military space spending is significant but difficult to quantify because most nations do not publish budget and program information about space-related national security and intelligence activity. Additionally, space capabilities have become an integral part of modern warfare, and space programs therefore often receive supportive funding from secondary sources not clearly defined as space-related. Also, many missions labeled primarily as civil assets serve dual-purpose military objectives. For all of these reasons, the estimation of military space spending is uncertain.

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2011 – United States Government Space Budget Overview – Snapshot

For all of FY 2011, the U.S. government operated under a series of budget measures known as Continuing Resolutions (CRs), culminating in the passage of Public Law 112-10, the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011. A CR is a type of appropriations legislation passed by Congress to fund the government when a formal appropriations bill for the next fiscal year has not been passed and signed into law by the close of the preceding government fiscal year. Generally, a CR provides funding for existing government programs at the prior year’s funding level or at a reduction.

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Economy: Space Economy – TSR 2011

Economy: Space Economy - TSR 2011 an annual review of the commercial space infrastructure and support industries and space-based products and services used on Earth. This edition also delves into the…

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2010 – U.S. Civil Space Budgets – Snapshot

In certain agencies, such as the USDA, space spending is distributed in small amounts across the agency for activities such as the purchase of remote sensing data, and therefore space budgets are not systematically tracked. In other agencies, such as the Department of Interior, space spending is concentrated in a single organizational or functional line item. Within the DOI, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) operates the Landsat Earth observation satellite program and associated mapping and data products. In 2010, USGS spent approximately $## million dollars on Geographic Research, Investigations, and Remote Sensing, which included the Landsat program and a geospatial data program.

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