What the FY2027 request buys
Verbatim from the R-2A exhibit for project MSL-02 of PE 0602025E. This is the budget justification's own description of work that has not happened yet — the one thing no other level of the budget carries.
- Develop initial models capturing the physics of the separation processes to inform projections of prototype efficiency and throughput. - Perform initial experimental demonstration of technique achieving medium purity separation of simple feedstock. - Deliver initial commercialization plan that outlines value proposition, market analysis, intellectual property strategy, and risk mitigation to facilitate capital and transition partnerships.
The FY 2027 increase reflects the shift from initial formulation and procurement to modeling and experimentation.
FY2026: the year under way
Prior-year accomplishments and current-year plans from the same exhibit. Context for the FY2027 plan, not a series — an activity partitions its project exactly in the request year, but can under-cover it in earlier years.
- Develop initial standard feedstock formulations and test/validation methodology. - Conduct initial procurement of long-lead items and establish experimental capabilities.
Three years, and no five-year plan
An R-2A activity publishes the prior year, the current year and the budget year. The FYDP outyears exist at project and program-element level and are deliberately absent here rather than inferred. Estimate types are colored and never summed into one figure.
| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | Enacted | 7.3 |
| FY2027 | Request | 17.6 |
This activity is 4.8% of project MSL-02's FY2027 request and 1.1% of PE 0602025E's. In the request year the activities under a project sum to it exactly; in the current year they under-cover it in about 9% of cases, so an activity's delta can legitimately exceed its parent's and the two must not be compared row to row.
29 activities in project MSL-02
Every R-2A line of this project, largest FY2027 request first. Linked where the activity has enough of its own narrative to carry a page; the rest are shown in full on the project page.