His current job is carried out daily at Kennedy Space Center, a new mobile launch tower that is already costing over $1 billion. But the Artemis Moon mission it is intended to serve may never happen if President Trump’s NASA plan is realized.
Mobile Launcher 2 is steadily rising at a construction site just north of the massive vehicle assembly building and currently stands midway, 320 feet tall, 390 feet.
It is designed to support larger versions of the space-launching system rocket called SLS Block 1B, starting with Artemis IV Mission. However, Trump’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 has surged future use of SLS rockets after the Artemis III.
The existing mobile launcher, the ML-1, was used in the VAB of the Artemis II Mission, which has not tested SLS and Orion Spacecraft flights in 2022, and in the VAB of the Artemis II Mission, a crotch light that does not land on the moon. It is scheduled to fly in early 2026.
The ML-1 will be used during the final time of the Artemis III mission, which aims to bring humans back to the moon in the summer of 2027.
But then Trump wants to find various solutions to send crews and cargo to the Moon and Mars.
It is aimless in ML-2, and its fate may resemble its predecessor, and its predecessor was not used by KSC for several years after the end of the constellations program. However, in the end, the launcher was reused for use in the first three Artemis missions.
“NASA will close the development of Mobile Launcher 2 because ML-2 is not required to support SLS for orderly and shutdown of SLS block 1B upgrades,” reads the budget proposal. “NASA proposes using previously allocated unskilled balances to support the termination of these activities, including, but not limited to, ongoing management, monitoring and surveillance.”
This includes money paid to contractor Bechtel National Inc., who was awarded a $383 million contract in 2019 with a delivery date of 2023. The NASA Inspector’s Office said the costs reached more than $1 billion in August 2024.
The budget also calls for the end of NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems team, which supports the launch of Artemis.
NASA, which currently employs around 18,000 people, does not say how many people fall under EGS, but its budget for 2024 and 2025 is close to $884 million. The proposed budget by Trump reduced it to $658 million in 2026, $700 million in 2027 and $500 million in 2028, and nothing more.
“NASA will utilize commercial partnerships through competitive contracts to transport crews for future Artemis missions,” the budget proposal states.
Trump’s move to kill the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft is coming amid criticism of the program’s continued delays and inflated costs.
In its 2023 audit, OIG warned that by the time the Artemis III finally flies, it would spend more than $93 billion on various facets, including SLS, Orion and Exploration Ground Systems.
Instead, Trump’s goal is to rely on commercial launch providers such as SpaceX’s in development and Blue Origin’s Future Moon and Mars Missions’ new Glenn.
“The new transportation services agreement will allow for more frequent missions to the moon, while also freeing up resources to invest in the infrastructure needed to make a longer stay on the moon than ever before,” reads a note in the budget proposal from interim NASA administrator Janet Petro.
Overall, Trump’s proposed NASA budget will drop dramatically from $24.8 billion to $18.8 billion, suggesting that it will kill much of the agency’s science portfolio, as well as future SLS launches.
“This budget is a retreat and a narrow ambition,” reads a key statement from the nonprofit The Planetary Society. “This request represents the smallest NASA budget since 1961, at the level that was enacted before the first Americans were released into space.”
A group called “extinction-level events” of NASA’s scientific efforts, said it would kill 41 scientific projects, or 1/3 of NASA’s scientific portfolio.
However, the agency claims it will instead focus on missions on the Moon and Mars.
“As every government has a lean budget, we are all looking into how we work, where we invest, and how to coordinate how we can achieve our mission,” the proposal reads. “At NASA, that means putting a new focus on human spaceflight. It will increase investment in sustainable programs to return to the moon for long-term human exploration, and accelerate efforts to send American astronauts to Mars.”
The shift from a nationally sponsored rocket program to relying on commercial partners for the launch of rockets does not necessarily mean an economic downturn on the space coast, according to Space Florida, the state’s aerospace economic development group.
“Florida’s longstanding strategic investments have been rewarded by creating a diverse and robust ecosystem that is well-placed to drive growth in the aerospace sector regardless of how national priorities evolve,” said Florida’s Director of Public Affairs.
Part of it is a massive $1.8 billion infrastructure project by SpaceX, supported after two launch sites have been operated.
Despite the uncertain future, Bechtel continues to work on the work he is given.
“We are constantly looking at potential (financial) challenges based on priorities and other things happening within NASA,” said Michael Costas, general manager of Bechtel’s defense and space business, shortly after the November election. “They have to work on any challenge they face. But of course – the new administration – there are a lot of people who are looking at efficiency.”
Congress is the ultimate decision-maker on what is funded by NASA, and while there is no viable alternative to SLS yet, there may still be a future for ML-2.
NASA continued to promote its progress with regular updates throughout the first months of the year. The latest additions were added in May, with only two more added in the future. Bechtel’s goal was to hand over the towers that had been completed to NASA by November 2026.
NASA includes previous additional sections on Trump’s first 100-day inauguration achievement list, saying, “The agency’s next-generation mobile launcher continues to take shape, with the sixth of 10 large modules installed. This structure will carry future Artemis rockets to the launch pad.”
But that was before the proposed budget was announced.
“We must continue to be responsible custodians of taxpayer dollars,” reads the budget proposal. “That means making strategic decisions, such as the scale of ineffective efforts that are not in line with our moon and Mars exploration priorities.”
A warning from the Planetary Society, which has been reflected in Trump’s new direction by many opponents, says the agency is taking a catastrophic path.
“President Trump said he is “committed to ensuring that America continues to lead in promoting the pursuit of discovery and exploration of space,” the association’s statement said. “This budget does the exact opposite: it abandons the power of leading countries in scientific discoveries, destroys the economic powers that are NASA, and abandons allies around the world.”
