HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – On Thursday, June 5, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, unveiled his legislative directives for Senate Republicans’ budget reconciliation bill. The Commerce Committee’s reconciliation language proposal would add $10 billion to a budget reconciliation bill to offset changes to NASA human spaceflight and exploration programs in the administration’s budget proposal.
The largest part of the package, $4.1 billion, would go towards production of Space Launch System rockets for the Artemis 4 and 5 missions. NASA’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposal seeks to end SLS development, along with the Orion spacecraft, with Artemis 3.
Another $2.6 billion would support completion of the Gateway, which the budget proposal seeks to cancel. The bill also provides a token amount, $20 million, for continued development of Orion for Artemis 4; the bill didn’t explain the much smaller amount for Orion.
The Rocket City is proud of our decades of history leading space exploration. NASA’s Artemis program, which includes the SLS rocket and Orion Space Capsule, is the only existing vehicle capable of taking the U.S. and our allies to the Moon before 2030. It is the only vehicle capable of crewed lunar missions for the foreseeable future. Unless the U.S. is willing to concede the Moon to the Chinese, it is imperative that we continue to fund and support this program until such time as an alternative exists.
To read the bill text, click HERE.
For a highlight page, click HERE.
For a summary page, click HERE.
For a section-by-section review, click HERE.
