Smithsonian Pushing Back on Plans to Relocate Space Shuttle

Big Beautiful Bill funds orbiter’s move to Texas.

Zach Vasile

Friday, July 11, 2025 at 10:00 AM ET

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Edited By:

Travis Tingle

The space shuttle Discovery flew 39 missions and was responsible for launching the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990. [Courtesy: National Air and Space Museum]

Key Takeaways:

A new federal law, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, allocates $85 million to relocate the Space Shuttle Discovery from its current home at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Virginia to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
The Smithsonian Institution is vehemently opposing the move, asserting its full ownership of Discovery and deeming the federal government's action to remove an object from its collection "unprecedented."
The relocation is a politically charged issue, championed by Texas senators to recognize Houston's space legacy, but criticized by a Virginia senator for the high taxpayer cost and logistical complexities involved in moving the retired spacecraft.

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There is a battle brewing over ownership of a retired NASA space shuttle.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law by President Donald Trump at the White House last week, sets aside $85 million to relocate the space shuttle Discovery from its current home at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in northern Virginia to the NASA-run Johnson Space Center in Houston.