Hello everyone!

I know this is not directly SpaceX related but I know almost everyone here is probably also a huge fan of space in general and this is very relevant to that.

The final Omnibus bill has been passed by the House and is expected to be passed by the Senate.

UPDATE: The bill has now been passed by the Senate and is awaiting signature by the President.

UPDATE 2: The bill has been signed by the President.

Here is a breakdown:

https://i.imgur.com/t4dW7Q4.png

Important notes:

• WFIRST gets $150 million in funding. The debate over its cancellation will move to the FY2019 budget.

• SLS/Orion gets significantly funded, above the level of NASA's request.

• SLS will get a 2nd mobile launcher. This will significantly shorten the wait time between EM-1 and EM-2.

• Europa Clipper and Europa Lander get full funding and still aim for respective 2022 and 2024 launches.

• All missions that were proposed to be cancelled have instead been funded, except for the Radiation Budget Instrument which NASA cancelled on its own.

• The Mars helicopter drone that NASA is looking at including with the Mars 2020 rover was more than fully funded. NASA requested $15 million and received $23 million.

• NASA education budget almost triples from a request of $37 million to an actual $100 million.

• Restore-L satellite servicing mission is funded with $130 million.

Article by Jeff Foust