By Alimat Aliyeva

The budget of the American Space Agency (NASA) for the current year, agreed by the US Congress, will be reduced by 8.5 percent, Azernews reports, citing foreign media outlets.

The head of NASA, Bill Nelson, at a conference on the prospects for the development of the agency under the new budget, said that NASA will receive funding in the amount of $ 24.9 billion instead of the requested $ 27.2 billion.

The head of the agency added that the cuts will particularly affect planetary exploration programs, including the Moon and Mars.

According to him, it is planned to increase the budget to $25.4 billion in fiscal year 2025. This is $0.5 billion more than in the current fiscal year.

He said NASA will try to get even more funding in fiscal year 2026, which starts next October.