The Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) on Thursday approved its fiscal year 2017 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS) bill that would provide $920 million more than requested for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS).
The CJS bill, overall, is worth nearly $56 billion, $563 million more than last year and $1.6 billion than President Barack Obama’s budget request. There were no amendments approved, nor offered, related to NASA or NOAA during Thursday’s markup hearing. 
The legislation provides $19.3 billion for NASA, $21 million over last year’s enacted amount and $1 billion more than requested. Of this, $2.2 billion is for SLS, which is $150 million more than last year. The bill also provides $300 million for SLS upper stage engine work and future SLS crewed missions in 2021 and beyond. SLS is being developed by Boeing [BA].
The bill provides $1.3 billion for the Orion crewed spacecraft that will eventually fly on SLS, $30 million more than last year and $247 million more than requested. Orion is being developed by Lockheed Martin [LMT].
The legislation provides $5.4 billion for science programs, $194 million less than last year but $93 million more than requested. The bill also provides $1.2 billion, same as requested, to further develop a domestic crew launch capability, also known as Commercial Crew. Space technology receives $687 million, same as last year but $4 million less than requested.
The bill provides $5.7 billion for NOAA, $34 million more than last year, but $151 million less than requested. The bill provides $383 million to continue construction of two new polar follow-on satellites and $1.5 billion for NOAA’s legacy Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) weather satellites, according to a statement by SAC Vice Chairman Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), who is retiring. GOES, a collaborative NASA/NOAA mission, is set to have its GOES-R satellite on Oct. 13. The bill also provides $75 million to complete a new NOAA survey vessel.
The bill also provides $974 million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), $10 million more than last year but $26 million less than requested. It is unknown when the bill might reach the Senate floor as it has not yet been scheduled for a vote, according to a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
SAC CJS subcommittee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) is a leading proponent of SLS, much of which is developed in Alabama.