Aaron O'Neill
Research lead for society, economy, and politics: Europe & global
Get in touch with us nowNASA's budget allocation 2000-2009, by category
As in the previous years, NASA's focus in the early 2000s was on human spaceflight and spaceflight science, with over 90 percent of the budget going towards this. From 2004 to 2008 there was some adjustment to the terminology used, however in 2009 the areas of safety and security, aeronautics and education, received their own specific allocation of the NASA budget.
NASA in the noughties
Much of NASA's focus in the 2000s remained on the International Space Station (ISS) and the Space Shuttle Program. With the arrival of the first crew members of the ISS on November 2, 2000, this marked the beginning of the longest continuously manned-operation in low-earth orbit. The station is still under construction, and many of the Space Shuttle's missions in the 1990s and 2000s were to bring materials, components and cargo to the ISS. The Space Shuttle Program suffered a huge loss on February 1 2003 with the Columbia disaster. 17 years after the explosion of the Challenger in 1986, the Columbia space shuttle disintegrated upon re-entry into the earths atmosphere, due to a piece of insulation foam breaking off and damaging a wing. All seven crew members on board died.
New ventures
In 2006 NASA began offering commercial contracts to other agencies, such as Space X, Boeing and Orbital Sciences Corporation. This marked a new era in US space operations, as these private companies could now begin working on already-existing NASA programs, such as delivering supplies to the ISS, and potentially offering space tourism to private individuals. These supply missions began in 2012, and on June 7, 2019 NASA announced that it would launch a private journeys to the ISS, planned to cost 35 thousand U.S dollars per day, per astronaut.
NASA in the noughties
Much of NASA's focus in the 2000s remained on the International Space Station (ISS) and the Space Shuttle Program. With the arrival of the first crew members of the ISS on November 2, 2000, this marked the beginning of the longest continuously manned-operation in low-earth orbit. The station is still under construction, and many of the Space Shuttle's missions in the 1990s and 2000s were to bring materials, components and cargo to the ISS. The Space Shuttle Program suffered a huge loss on February 1 2003 with the Columbia disaster. 17 years after the explosion of the Challenger in 1986, the Columbia space shuttle disintegrated upon re-entry into the earths atmosphere, due to a piece of insulation foam breaking off and damaging a wing. All seven crew members on board died.
New ventures
In 2006 NASA began offering commercial contracts to other agencies, such as Space X, Boeing and Orbital Sciences Corporation. This marked a new era in US space operations, as these private companies could now begin working on already-existing NASA programs, such as delivering supplies to the ISS, and potentially offering space tourism to private individuals. These supply missions began in 2012, and on June 7, 2019 NASA announced that it would launch a private journeys to the ISS, planned to cost 35 thousand U.S dollars per day, per astronaut.
