How has NASA spending changed over the years?
Obligations by fiscal year across all loaded years: from $22.22B (2023) to $21.83B (2026). That counts awards to outside recipients (contracts, grants, loans, payments). The agency's total obligations in its budget accounts, the figure USAspending.gov's Spending Explorer shows, are larger: FY2023 $28.28B; FY2024 $27.17B; FY2025 $28.77B; FY2026 so far $20.57B. They also include its employees' pay, retirement and benefits, and work the agency does itself (ask for its account obligations).
| Fiscal year | Obligations |
|---|---|
| 2023 | $22.22B |
| 2024 | $21.35B |
| 2025 | $22.86B |
| 2026 | $21.83B |
Open the full answer with chart and filters →
How to read this
- Amounts are obligations (money committed), not outlays (money paid).
- FY2026 is not complete: data as of 2026-09-30.
- No year given: covers FY2023–FY2026.
- Recent defense contracts are undercounted: DoD publishes contract actions with about a 90-day delay, so amounts after 2026-07-02 are incomplete or missing.