From The Archives: Space Program Will Cost $25-30 Billion Over Five Years

The total national space program over the next five years would cost $25-30 billion and the civilian space budget will increase $4-5 billion a year by Fiscal 1963 under President Kennedy following his decision to race Russians to the Moon. 

On page 25, our Washington Roundup reported that Kennedy had said at the National Conference for the Peaceful Uses of Space that the strategy of his Administration for gaining wide public acceptance of the great cost of space exploration was becoming evident. The strategy was to spread the effort and involvement as broadly as possible throughout the U.S. to educate students, businessmen, and ordinary citizens on the importance and practical payoffs of a vast research program. 

The Roundup reported that President Kennedy sent a clear message that space research and exploration was "at the very heart of our national policy" and predicted a "far-reaching effect within industry and our labor force, on medical research, education, and many other areas of national concern." The President said he hoped "to establish a precedent as the people of America move forward in space."

On page 26, we cite NASA Administrator James E. Webb as estimating the new five-year program cost and he characterized the Administration's actions "in accelerating the space effort as the establishment of major new national goals, essentially in the areas of manned lunar landing".

Read the full article on page 26 of the June 5, 1961 issue of Aviation Week, and see a range of NASA concept drawings including an Apollo module and an earth-launched vehicle. 

Enjoy unlimited access to the complete Aviation Week Archive which has over 100 Years of Aviation Week — at your fingertips.

Every issue, every page, every article we have ever published. Your subscription includes full access to the archives, plus current Aviation Week & Space Technology articles (both digital and print packages available).