Who builds it, who pays

Where does the money come from, and which companies do the work?

NASA, Michoud Assembly Facility

NASA spends about $25 billion a year, and most of it leaves the agency as contracts. Some companies build hardware that NASA owns; others sell NASA a service, such as a seat to orbit or a delivery to the Moon, and keep the vehicle.

That shift, from owning spacecraft to buying services, is the largest change in how the American program works since Apollo. This chapter follows the money, the contractors and the people who run missions day to day.

Begin with The builders

1Who builds NASA’s spacecraft, and how the contracts pay themNASA has always spent most of its money outside its own walls. From Apollo’s 500 contractors to SpaceX and Blue Origin, the question that shapes every program is who carries the risk when costs grow.Story, about 7 minutes
2NASA’s budget: from 4.4 percent of federal spending to 0.35 percentIn 1966 NASA spent 4.4 cents of every federal dollar; today about a third of a cent. Where its roughly $25 billion a year goes, how it is decided, and why Congress keeps rejecting an $18.8 billion request.Explainer, about 5 minutes
3Control rooms and antennas: how NASA keeps in touch with its spacecraftEvery NASA mission depends on a control room and a chain of antennas. Built for Mercury in 1961, the networks now serve more than 100 missions, and the deep-space antennas are booked beyond their capacity.Explainer, about 7 minutes