A Texas senator’s pushback on President Donald Trump’s proposed cuts to NASA has gained an ally in the Rocket City.

The Huntsville/Madison County Chamber released a statement Friday supporting Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who is seeking $10 billion in additional funding for key NASA centers and programs.

Trump’s budget proposal would phase out two key programs run from Huntsville’s Marshall Space Flight Center: the Space Launch System that is to carry crews into lunar orbit for NASA’s Artemis program, and its Orion crew capsule.

Cruz proposed the additional spending in his role as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee. He called for almost $10 billion “to win the new space race with China and ensure America dominates space” by making “targeted, critical investments in Mars-forward technology, Artemis Missions and Moon to Mars program, and the International Space Station.”

The Huntsville Chamber stressed that the SLS and Orion is the only system that has successfully flown to the moon and back – during Artemis 1 in 2022 – and thus is the nation’s best bet to establish a permanent presence there before China does.

“Unless the U.S. is willing to concede the Moon to the Chinese, it is imperative that we continue to fund and support this program until such time as an alternative exists,” the statement read.

The Senate is working toward a version of Trump’s tax and spending plan for next year after the House narrowly passed its own version last month. Cruz’s proposal is advisory only, and Trump’s proposal already faces opposition from senators concerned about spending. A recent nonpartisan budget analysis predicted the House version would raise the deficit by $3.8 trillion over the next 10 years.

Cruz, though, is a leading Senate voice on space who represents another state where NASA has a large presence. The Lunar Gateway – also on the chopping block in Trump’s proposal – is run out of Houston’s Johnson Space Center.

Meanwhile, Marshall is NASA’s lead center for SLS, managing the booster, engines, stages, and integration. Major Huntsville aerospace contractors including Dynetics, Aerojet Rocketdyne, United Launch Alliance and Teledyne Brown Engineering contribute to the development, production and operation of the SLS’s various elements, AL.com has reported.

A 2024 study found Alabama enjoyed $5.1 billion in economic impact due to NASA’s Artemis-related work — more than any other state. It attributed much of that to the reach of Marshall Space Flight Center and the contracting it oversees.

Cruz is calling for SLS and Orion to be funded at least through the Artemis V mission, scheduled to launch no sooner than 2030. Trump’s budget calls for them to be replaced by unspecified private industry solutions after Artemis 3 in 2027.

Orion is the program’s only crew capsule and SLS its only launch vehicle.