The NASA Reauthorization Act of 2026 has passed the Senate Commerce Committee, chaired by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). When one looks over its contents, one has to wonder what a difference 16 years makes.
In 2010, in the wake of then-President Barack Obama’s cancellation of the Constellation Program (President George W. Bush’s attempt at a deep space exploration program) Congress passed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010.
Among other things, the 2010 act imposed upon NASA the Space Launch System, a giant, expensive and, as it has turned out, hard to operate rocket. The Space Launch System’s main purpose was to provide jobs in certain states and congressional districts. Any space missions it enabled would be a happy side-effect.
The 2026 version of the NASA authorization bill that passed out of Senate Commerce is as different from the 2010 legislation as day to night. Whereas the 2010 bill imposed the will of Congress on NASA, the 2026 bill has essentially given NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman carte blanche to do what he feels is necessary to get Americans back on the moon before the Chinese and then to build a lunar base.
So, what happened in the 16 years between the two pieces of legislation to make them so starkly different?
Jim Bridenstine, who served as NASA administrator during President Trump’s first term after a contentious nominating process, played a crucial role in the transformation of Congress into a partner of NASA’s space exploration goals. Bridenstine sold the Artemis return to the moon program, initiated by President Trump, to both sides of the aisle in Congress. When Trump was defeated by Joe Biden and Bridenstine left NASA, the Artemis program survived the change of administrations.
Bridenstine failed to get the Artemis program out from under the Space Launch System. Sen. Richard Shelby, (R-Ala.), a powerful defender of the giant rocket, informed the NASA administrator in no uncertain terms that any attempt to replace the Space Launch System with a commercial rocket, say the SpaceX Falcon Heavy, would mean the death of the Artemis program.
Biden’s selection for NASA administrator, former Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), established the theme of a space race back to the moon with China. The idea seemed to be a return to the first space race, in which NASA beat the Soviets to the moon. While some might argue that the United States had already beaten the Chinese and everyone else to the moon, the fear of being humiliated in the 21st century was enough to add an extra argument for Artemis to continue.
It should be noted that Nelson, one of the architects of the Space Launch System, did nothing to try to replace it with a cheaper, commercial launch vehicle.
Donald Trump was elected president for a second, nonconsecutive term. One of his first acts was to nominate Jared Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur and private space traveler, for NASA Administrator. Though most praised the nomination, the confirmation process was an unprecedented “Game of Thrones” process in which it was withdrawn and then reinstated before Isaacman was finally confirmed Dec. 17, about a year after his first nomination.
Isaacman has issued a sweeping series of initiatives, the most important of which was a revamping of the Artemis program to include an Earth orbital mission in 2027 followed by as many as two moon landings in 2028. The Space Launch System was not immediately cancelled, but underwent “standardization” and an increased flight rate that is designed to decrease its cost and increase its reliability.
A few days later, the Senate Commerce Committee passed the NASA Reauthorization Act of 2026 that confirmed Isaacman’s plan and gave him permission to do what is necessary to get America back to the moon as quickly as possible.
The difference between the 2026 legislation and the 2010 version reflects Bridenstine’s efforts to sell the Artemis program and Nelson’s warnings about a Chinese victory in a new space race. Also, Shelby, now retired, is no longer the Senate’s arbiter of space policy. Cruz is the new adjudicator of space in the upper chamber, and he understands the importance of space as a source of national greatness and prosperity beyond just being a jobs program.
The 2026 authorization act has to pass the full senate and be reconciled with the House version before it becomes law. But it suggests that, at long last, Congress is a full partner with NASA in the Artemis return to the moon.
Mark R. Whittington, who writes frequently about space policy, has published a political study of space exploration entitled “Why is It So Hard to Go Back to the Moon?” as well as “The Moon, Mars and Beyond” and, most recently, “Why is America Going Back to the Moon?” He blogs at Curmudgeons Corner.
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