NASA's endangered James Webb Space Telescope project has survived a funding vote in the U.S. Senate Wednesday.

In July, the House Appropriations Committee released the fiscal year 2012 Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Bill, which allotted an annual funding of $50.2 billion to the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation and related agencies. In a move to restrain spending, it cut the appropriation by 6 percent from fiscal 2011.

Congress must make tough decisions to cut programs where necessary to give priority to programs with broad national reach that have the most benefit to the American people, House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., said at the time.

The move, backed by the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, scrapped the behind-schedule, over-budget $6.5 billion telescope.

But on Wednesday, the Democratic-controlled Senate Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations subcommittee allocated $530 million for the project out of a total NASA budget of $17.9 billion.

The bill provides funds to enable a 2018 launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, the subcommittee stated.

Congress must make tough decisions to cut programs where necessary to give priority to programs with broad national reach that have the most benefit to the American people, House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., said at the time.

The move, backed by the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, scrapped the behind-schedule, over-budget $6.5 billion telescope.

But on Wednesday, the Democratic-controlled Senate Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations subcommittee allocated $530 million for the project out of a total NASA budget of $17.9 billion.

The bill provides funds to enable a 2018 launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, the subcommittee stated.

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