On November 13, President George W. Bush submitted an amendment
to his fiscal year 2003 budget request to accelerate
implementation of a new Integrated Space Transportation Plan
(ISTP) for NASA.....On November 13, President George W. Bush submitted an amendment
to his fiscal year 2003 budget request to accelerate
implementation of a new Integrated Space Transportation Plan
(ISTP) for NASA. Driven by the agency's new vision and mission,
the Administration released details of a new, coordinated shift
in three of the agency's important space flight programs.

A new Integrated Space Transportation Plan (ISTP) is designed to
benefit the International Space Station, Space Shuttle, and
NASA's science and research objectives. The new ISTP dedicates
more resources to the Space Station program; provides additional
funding to extend the life and enhance the safety and reliability
of the agency's orbiter fleet; boosts funding for science-based
payloads and research; and restructures NASA's Space Launch
Initiative (SLI), originally designed to identify next-generation
reusable launch vehicle technology.

The new ISTP reflects important changes to NASA's five-year
budget plan, but keeps costs within the original 2003 fiscal
budget.

"The Bush Administration is proposing a comprehensive, strategic
approach to link these critical programs to space transportation
objectives," said NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe. "The new ISTP
coordinates our investments to enable science-driven exploration
and provides continued safe and reliable human access to the
International Space Station, " he said.

A crucial component of the new ISTP is the development of a crew
transport vehicle. The concept of an Orbital Space Plane reflects
NASA's need to ferry Space Station crewmembers and to ensure that
a capability exists to get the crew home if there's an emergency.
The concept will be the immediate objective of SLI's new research
efforts.

Administrator O'Keefe said the Orbital Space Plane is beneficial
on several levels. "It's based on existing technologies and
therefore lowers risk and is more affordable. It will replace the
Space Shuttle as the primary crew transport vehicle, freeing the
orbiter fleet to focus on heavy cargo delivery," he said.

SLI would continue to identify future reusable launch vehicle
technology through a new Next Generation Launch Technology
program, investing money in propulsion, structures and other key
areas.

"NASA's initial investment in the Space Launch Initiative is what
makes the new ISTP possible, and SLI will continue to work to
identify future technologies that will eventually allow us to
leave low Earth orbit," concluded Administrator O'Keefe. "SLI
provided us with the direction, and we feel this new ISTP
provides a tightly integrated, systematic approach to address
NASA's future space transportation needs," he said.

Details of the President's budget amendment are available on the
Internet at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news