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 law 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 NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The Smithsonian institution strongly opposes the move, asserting its full ownership of Discovery and deeming the federal government's attempt to remove it from their collection "unprecedented."
The relocation is a point of political contention, with Texas senators championing the move for Houston's aerospace history, while a Virginia senator criticizes the significant cost to taxpayers and logistical challenges.

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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.