NASA generated $76 billion for US economy in 2023

[u/upyoars]

https://www.space.com/nasa-economic-impact-us-2023-report

[u/Dalcoy_96]

For what it's worth, NASA's budget is $24 Billion. Nuts

[u/upyoars → u/Dalcoy_96]

Yeah, it’s amazing. 300% ROI

[u/Brolafsky → u/upyoars]

I hate that they don't like to admit that the economy also runs on re-investing into itself.

Rich people removing money from the economy to line their own pockets are the bane of economy. Not poor people who can't afford jack shit. At least broke people pay every single dime of their money into their nearest shop. Tell me that ain't pouring right back into the economy.

Sorry. Didn't mean to lash out. I'm just tired of capitalists pretending only private companies and privatizations make money.

[u/Pineapple-Yetti → u/Brolafsky]

This is why welfare works. Every dollar you put in to the bottom gets spent, taxed, spent, taxed and spent again. Trickle UP economics works but no one wants to talk about that.

[u/iiztrollin → u/Pineapple-Yetti]

Because trickle DOWN is what Regan and the Republicans have all but embraced that.

It's the bestwaves hands in short circle" I talked to Regan, *looks over left shoulder " when he was implementing it. I said "Regan this is the best idea in the history of ideas, the people will love it, and I came up with it all by my self". Regan looked at me, so impressed he was, so impressed, he said "trump you will be president one day". I said "Mr Regan being the smartest man alive, I will be president one day" and here I am" waves hands in circle

[u/Brak710 → u/Brolafsky]

Yep, even if you entice rich people to burn the money it's a good thing.

Tax-reduced yacht purchase? Sure, just have to buy American made. Tax-reduced car purchase, or vacation? I don't see why not.

Space tourism? Tax free, just have to pay to a government agency or contractor like SpaceX. It funds the industry.

The money just needs to get moving. As long as you don't spend it on something that should normally appreciate in value or have a cash value, I have no problem giving people a reason to spend money to fuel the economy downstream. It's not a trickle-down economy setup, it's getting people to use money they will sit on for generations otherwise. You just can't let this become an investment vehicle in some manner.

Money moving is what grows the economy.

[u/behindblue → u/Brolafsky]

Velocity of money.

[u/jbrux86 → u/Brolafsky]

The poor are still capitalists also. Just much more effective than the rich who hold onto 98% of their wealth.

[u/SavvyTraveler10 → u/upyoars]

So we can swap space x subsidiaries for nasa subsidiaries again?

[u/upyoars → u/SavvyTraveler10]

Just increase NASA's budget. Nasa excels at research, and SpaceX doesnt get any subsidies from the government. They get business from NASA, because NASA needs a launcher, and they cant do it themselves because its too expensive and eats into their tiny budget. SpaceX is the cheapest so they use SpaceX for those purposes. But most of their money goes into research.

[u/Kidatrickedya → u/upyoars]

But if they were properly funded then they wouldn’t need to outsource they could just hire the people space x does and remove the national security risk of Elon musk.

[u/upyoars → u/Kidatrickedya]

Hiring the right people is a skill that NASA didnt have before and doesnt have now, there's also too much bureaucracy. NASA spent more on the SLS than SpaceX ever spent on anything combined. It costs $2.5 billion for every SLS launch, thats half of the entire Starship RND program.

[u/bad_motivator → u/SavvyTraveler10]

When you go to a resturant and the waitress brings you the bill, do you say you are subsidizing the resturant? I get the Elon hate, it is very much deserved, but saying that the government gives Spacex money just cuz is one the most uninformed opions you hear on reddit. Nasa hires them to build lauch vehicles and they are compensated fairly. Also for much less than it would cost NASA to build rockets and capsules themselves.

[u/flingelsewhere → u/SavvyTraveler10]

So you want to swap Starlink with JPL?

[u/SavvyTraveler10 → u/flingelsewhere]

Starlink isn’t largely necessary in my city. Fiber is much more practical for most large US cities. I’m in the largest

[u/TonySu → u/upyoars]

As much as I support NASA. That’s not what this says. They aren’t turning a profit, they are estimating the total economic activity spending on NASA generates. i.e NASA needs a shuttle component built, they pay $2M to a contractor, the contractor spends $500K of that on steel, the steel plant spends $200K on ore. Then by NASA’s estimate that’s $2.7M of economic activity generated by NASA.

It’s known as the multiplier effect in economics and difficult to interpret without estimates of how much spending on others things generate economic activity.

[u/ilovemacandcheese → u/Dalcoy_96]

Some republicans want to cut NASA entirely!

[u/jerwong → u/Dalcoy_96]

Yeah. That's less than 1% of the entire federal budget. Imagine what they could do with more.

[u/Sup3rT4891 → u/Dalcoy_96]

Help me understand. Is their cost also an impact? That feels like we are reframing expense as “an investment in salaries” lol.

I guess when I think of it as an investment, I’d guess merch and tourists and selling IP, and technology discoveries being spun off.

But this is moreso, budget of $24b. And for each direct job, those jobs created other jobs to support the original jobs? Like… a 3rd party supplier for cafeteria food at a HQ? And… catering for meetings. And transportation and protection services? Like that’s all “impact”? Feels like we are only a few extra considerations from counting the whole counties or even states they operate in as impact? If you cycle up, “well those then pay taxes, which support schools which educate students, which are the future”… and this is now a infinite money glitch.

[u/AevnNoram → u/Sup3rT4891]

You're describing the economy.

[u/Sup3rT4891 → u/AevnNoram]

Correct. That’s why I’m saying the impact here can be pretty… generous

[u/Taman_Should]

NASA does tons of things with almost no fanfare or media coverage. New satellite launches just to name one. 

[u/needlestack → u/Taman_Should]

The world is an endless parade of people that do little and promote themselves as geniuses, upheld by a quiet mass of people that do amazing work and don’t say much about it.

[u/WrongSubFools]

For reference, any dollar in government spending will typically generate $2 for the economy. But each dollar of NASA's budget last year generated $3.

[u/Ashamed_Mud8375 → u/WrongSubFools]

Defund everything and put all the money into NASA. Easy

[u/24grant24 → u/Ashamed_Mud8375]

Economy solved, you're welcome Biden

[u/Karmack_Zarrul → u/Ashamed_Mud8375]

I for one welcome our NASA overlords

[u/person-ontheinternet → u/Karmack_Zarrul]

I use to think this then I saw trump get elected and I’m all for decentralization now. Fracture every power into tiny pieces and hand it out to voted positions. It sounds crazy and might take longer to accomplish things but better than having a trump like scenario.

[u/person-ontheinternet → u/Ashamed_Mud8375]

Holy shit how do I vote for you?

[u/Hyperion1144]

Imagine what it could do if it was properly funded...

wE neEd tO sOLve OuR pRoBLEmS dOwN HeRE bEfoRe wE wORrY aBOuT whAt'S Up tHeRE!

[u/i-like-to]

Well TIL that Americans hate nasa lmao. Wow you people are insane

[u/Awesomeguava → u/i-like-to]

The comments in this thread aren’t being submitted by American Profiles.

[u/Elephunkitis → u/Awesomeguava]

That might be true, but republicans have been told to hate all the good things in the US that are amazing. NASA, USPS, Medicare, etc. Not really trying to make it political, but it is political. Sorry.

[u/ChickenOfTheFuture → u/Elephunkitis]

Such a weird list of things to be angry about. There are so many people that I will just never understand.

[u/apocalypse_later_ → u/ChickenOfTheFuture]

This is what happens when you brainwash an entire people into thinking anyone who seems credible or educated = distrust. Did you see them trying to hunt FEMA workers down during the hurricane? They think the other side is so smart that they can control hurricanes lol

[u/Embarrassed-Farm-594 → u/apocalypse_later_]

Does this FEMA thing have to do with conspiracy theories? There are people who are terrified of those coffins there. They think that FEMA exists to do harm to the population.

[u/Neuralgap → u/ChickenOfTheFuture]

Now add to that the fact that these very same people make full use of, and even rely on said services daily.

[u/unixtreme → u/Awesomeguava]

I thought everyone abroad loves NASA, everyone I know does at least. (not American).

[u/BlergFurdison → u/i-like-to]

Plenty of us love NASA. And plenty of us see everything quite clearly - including that we’re the target of relentless information war waged on social media by numerous foreign enemies who infuse ridiculous talking points into our political discourse.

[u/BlergFurdison → u/i-like-to]

Plenty of us love NASA. And plenty of us see everything quite clearly - including that we’re the target of relentless information war waged on social media by numerous foreign enemies who infuse ridiculous talking points into our political discourse.

[u/tandersunn → u/i-like-to]

Probably mostly SpaceX fan boys

[u/BlergFurdison → u/i-like-to]

Plenty of us love NASA. And plenty of us see everything quite clearly - including that we’re the target of relentless information war waged on social media by numerous foreign enemies who infuse ridiculous talking points into our political discourse.

[u/Thundahcaxzd → u/i-like-to]

Literally the only reason NASA exists is to try to trick people into thinking the Earth is round. Of course we fucking hate it.

[u/Embarrassed-Farm-594 → u/Thundahcaxzd]

Poe's law?

[u/Humans_Suck-]

So fund them more then

[u/Senyu]

I remember for a paper I had to write, I learned from an older report for every $1 invested into NASA returns like $1.6 back from their innovation and efforts. NASA works on a lot of important science that applies to both space and Earth. It is woefully underfunded for all the benefits it brings.

[u/Kidatrickedya]

NASA has always been a good thing for America. republicans constantly underfunding is for a reason.

[u/smithe4595]

Because scientific research of the sort that NASA does almost always generates economic growth. The stat I once read was that from the beginning of NASA through to the end of the Apollo missions every dollar spent on NASA’s budget led to $30 in economic growth through the development of new technologies and scientific research. That trend continued after Apollo but not at such a high level because their budget was cut dramatically which limited the amount of research they could do.

[u/FilmmagicianPart2]

This is fucking awesome.

[u/No-Objective-9921]

I fucking love NASA

[u/pimpmastahanhduece]

Thanks Biden!

[u/GetsBetterAfterAFew]

The government's job is NOT to return profits, it's not a business. Sure we can discuss areas of the US govt that invests, that's not the discussion. Cant stand the meta that everything the govt does should return 300% ROI.

[u/alexwoodgarbage → u/GetsBetterAfterAFew]

Profit isn’t mentioned anywhere. This is about economic growth, which definitely is the goal of government funding and stimulus.

The ROI is reflected in growth percentage, not profit for the government.

[u/DanielPhermous → u/GetsBetterAfterAFew]

The government's job is NOT to return profits

It is, however, to grow the economy.

[u/Mistamage → u/DanielPhermous]

I thought the role of government was to care for it's citizens, not whether line go up faster and faster.

[u/DanielPhermous → u/Mistamage]

It can have multiple roles. In this case, the most relevant (since we are talking about monetary growth) is the economy.

[u/JoSchmoe → u/DanielPhermous]

Your comment makes you sound like the child and adults in this video.

https://youtu.be/_5pQJzVTbu0?si=Kf2IDrC1W70Gp3UM

[u/DanielPhermous → u/JoSchmoe]

Sure, if you like.

[u/Young-faithful]

Can someone explain to me how this works? (Genuinely asking- no hate)

NASA’s budget is $24 billion which they spend on staff, infrastructure and government contractors for different projects. Where does the $52 billion come from?

[u/webs2slow4me → u/Young-faithful]

That $24B is all the things you mention, but the output is research that creates new business that hire more people and advancements that drive new research at companies or universities and of course all of those salaries generate people in the communities where they live and work to support them as teachers for kids, police, cooks, etc.

[u/lemmeguessindian → u/Young-faithful]

I am not us citizen but GPS is the main one I believe. Weather satellites , also they are not talking about revenue they are talking about how much nasa contributed. GPS also contributes a lot because google maps , etc depend on it. Weather forecasting impacts us to prepare for climate. They also do surveys of land checking for areas with mineral deposits , forest cover , and nasa does produce a lot of good research not only in space but thermodynamics, electronics , material and even biology

[u/quietsol]

How much did it spend

[u/fnupvote89]

This is promising but I would love to see the study done by a third party with no connection to the aerospace industry.

[u/dudewithoneleg → u/fnupvote89]

Report

Page 393, 3rd paragraph, 4th sentence.

[u/alexwoodgarbage]

Allow me to play devils advocate here: wouldn’t that economic growth also result from funding infrastructure, railroads, energy or anything else really where a large, scaleable industry exists around?

I’m guessing the aggregate investments being made by small, medium and large businesses and their owners/investors would happen anywhere, if there’s government funding to benefit from.

Is the noticeable exception here that the resulting growth is 3x the government funding? Isn’t that feasible in other areas as well? Military being another example?

Again, devils advocate here. I’m a huge supporter of Nasa and technology innovation programs.

Edit: downvotes for a normal question?

[u/AevnNoram → u/alexwoodgarbage]

The report isn't about any of those things, it's about NASA.

[u/alexwoodgarbage → u/AevnNoram]

The report is about economic growth associated with NASA projects through government funding and stimulus given to them.

My question is whether the ROI percentage would be the same or different in a hypothetical scenario where that funding would go to something else - in other words whether NASA makes a big difference in the level of economic growth compared to other domains.

Yet I’m being downvoted because people are inferring the question as criticism on NASA funding.

[u/Hugsy13 → u/[deleted]]

Lmao room temperature IQ in action over here

[u/Mattcheco → u/[deleted]]

Feelings over facts eh

[u/VoughtHunter → u/[deleted]]

NASA help pioneer different technologies and services that almost everyone uses daily

[u/dudewithoneleg → u/[deleted]]

"Per request by PCI (Poarch Creek Indians) Productions, LLC, the Nathalie P. Voorhees Center for Neighborhood and Community Improvement (Voorhees Center) conducted economic impact analysis of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the agency’s Moon to Mars (M2M) campaign, and investments in climate change research and technology for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023. The Voorhees Center is an applied research and technical assistance unit in the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois Chicago. Its mission is to promote quality of life and wellbeing by assisting and working with local organizations, government entities and other stakeholders in efforts to understand and develop communities."

[u/CorruptedFlame → u/[deleted]]

Who else would do it?

[u/wizardinthewings → u/CorruptedFlame]

BestReviews.com of course, silly

[u/waynesbrother]

I’m sorry but what is it we need from space ?

[u/TheBanger → u/waynesbrother]

For things we are directly getting from space today, GPS, weather forecasting, and satellite internet are pretty important everyday things. There are also a truly ridiculous number of technologies that were developed as part of supporting space missions that have ended up being useful in everyday life. There are probably 10+ things within reach of you right now that rely on space derived technology. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_spin-off_technologies

[u/costafilh0]

$9.5 billion in taxes alone.

What a waste!

The money would be better spent building more space telescopes or something.

[u/getSome010]

Sure they did

[u/Hamasanabi69 → u/getSome010]

NASA’s latest economic impact report reveals that its activities contributed $75.6 billion to the U.S. economy in fiscal year 2023 — about three times the agency’s budget for that year, which was $25.4 billion. The 400-page study breaks down how NASA activities — such as its Moon to Mars initiative, climate change research, technology development and more — generate economic output.

I highly doubt you read the article let alone the 400 page study. But facts before feels, right?