SUNSET: 
17With more than 40 missions on the chopping block, the space community is holding on to hope that the budget is “dead on arrival” in Congress
The Planetary Society
This past Friday, May 30th, the White House released its proposed 2026 budget for NASA, the detailed version of a “skinny budget” published earlier this month. For many in the space science community, it confirmed their worst fears.
“Were we prepared? A little bit,” says planetary scientist Paul Byrne (Washington University in St. Louis). “But when you actually see the visceral specifics of it, it's a whole new level of horror.”
The document, compiled by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB), explains where they plan to spend and strike money across all of NASA’s programs. With a topline goal from the skinny budget to reduce NASA spending by 25%, scientists knew much of the axe would come down on NASA’s Science divisions, said to experience 47% cuts. Now, they can see where those cuts would actually fall, from Earth science to astrophysics to aerospace.
“We’re in uncharted territory,” says astrophysicist Meredith MacGregor (Johns Hopkins University). “I didn't necessarily anticipate…how many programs they were going to just completely cut.”
With total spending set at $18.8 billion, NASA spending would reach the lowest funding level since 1961, adjusted for inflation — despite making up less than half a percent of the government’s spending. It’s important to note that the OMB is not the final sentencing—this budget will make its way to Congress, where lawmakers will use it as inspiration to craft their own outline for how NASA should receive and spend money.
But data from the Planetary Society shows that since 1961, Congress has never appropriated NASA more than 9% or less than 11% of the money the White House requests. “This is the biggest crisis NASA science has ever faced, no question,” says Casey Dreier, Chief of Space Policy at the Planetary Society.
Under the current proposal, more than 40 NASA missions would be defunded. These include missions in their “extended operations” phase, meaning they have completed their stated objectives but continue to provide valuable science data—often at low costs. Most notably, this set includes the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, two of NASA’s oldest continuous astrophysics missions and unique in the wavelengths they study.
The Nancy Grace Roman Telescope, NASA’s next flagship mission, is funded at less than 40% of its asking price, jeopardizing its ability to launch on time in 2026—though better than the skinny budget, which had seemed to indicate a cancellation of the mission entirely.
AGU / Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets
NASA EPIC Team / DSCOVR
X-ray: (IXPE) NASA / MSFC / Fei Xie & (Chandra) NASA / CXC / SAO; Optical: NASA / STScI Hubble / Chandra processing by Judy Schmidt; Hubble / Chandra / IXPE processing & compositing by NASA / CXC / SAO / Kimberly Arcand & Nancy Wolk
Also on the chopping block are some of NASA’s highly anticipated programs, including Mars Sample Return, aiming to bring home the first samples of Martian rocks, and the DAVINCI and VERITAS missions, slated to study Venus in the greatest detail since the 1990s. The Space Launch System, Orion spacecraft, and proposed lunar Gateway, all part of America’s race back to the Moon, would be wound down. Numerous Earth-observing satellites would cease operations.
NASA contributions to European missions both launched and in development are also proposed to be rescinded, including Euclid, which studies dark matter and dark energy, LISA, which aims to measure gravitational waves from space, and the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover mission, which NASA had recently rejoined after pulling out in 2012.
The Planetary Society
MacGregor isn’t just worried about existing missions, but future ones; the budget essentially turns off the tap for new proposals, which would create a “huge gap” in new science, she says.
The document is “a narrowing of ambition and a narrowing of vision…that will fundamentally damage U.S. leadership in scientific exploration,” says Dreier.
In addition to cutting science, the proposed budget also guts personnel; more than 5,000 civil servants and many thousands of contract workers would lose their jobs if the budget were to stand. As for attracting future talent, the budget zeroes out NASA’s Office of Stem Engagement, which provides internships and grants for early-career researchers, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds. “Similar to prior generations that were inspired by the Apollo lunar landings, NASA will inspire the next generation of explorers through exciting, ambitious space missions,” reads the justification provided.
Though the mood is bleak, researchers are holding out hope for a different result in Congress. “Cuts of this size would devastate our workforce, our ongoing efforts to track natural disasters and the changing climate, and our ability to remain competitive on the world stage,” says Congressman George Whitesides, a former NASA Chief of Staff and Vice Ranking member of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, in an emailed statement. “My sense is that this budget is dead on arrival in Congress.”
However, warns Dreier, even a slightly fatter budget will likely bear damaging cuts as larger programs garner more mission-saving attention in Congress than the slew of smaller science missions. And, says Byrne, the budget process happens annually; if Congress staves off the worst cuts this year, there’s no telling if history will repeat itself next Spring.
In typical years, adds a mid-career planetary scientist who spoke on the condition of anonymity because their mission has been proposed for termination, the space community rallies around saving the one or two budget-jeopardized missions. This year, the message will be simple: “Save NASA.”
About Hannah Richter
Hannah Richter is a freelance Earth, space, and science policy journalist based in Washington, D.C. In addition to Sky&Telescope, her work has appeared in Science, Nature, Scientific American, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian, WIRED, Science News, Ars Technica, and Sierra, among others. She has also written an e-book for NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and is an alumna of MIT's Graduate Program in Science Writing.
Comments
Lou
June 4, 2025 at 4:24 am
Imagine if SpaceX adopted the canceled missions and then went public on NASDAQ - anyone could then invest to keep the torch of science lit for future generations...
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Michal
June 4, 2025 at 3:49 pm
Imagine if the SpaceX CEO had not endorsed these cuts. He has no interest in keeping the torch lit.
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Lou
June 5, 2025 at 2:06 am
Last month he called the cuts "troubling" and yesterday he said the entire budget is "a disgusting abomination"...
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Enrico the Great
June 6, 2025 at 11:50 am
REGARDLESS OF THE PARTY IN POWER----SINCE NIXON---NASA IS ALWAYS SCREWED. UNFORTUNATELY.
WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON MARS BY 1985!!!
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Andrew James
June 8, 2025 at 5:36 am
This has little to do with the party in power but instead of the fall into indignant disrepute. NASA is supposed to be the embodiment of America and one of the centerpieces in foundations of its democracy and of its once greatness. It also says to the world it desires to be a positive influence on the advantage and contributions to humanity. It is set aside America is being an example of the future which is brighter and better than it has been in the past.
By stripping of its accomplishments for political gain is just disgraceful.
All I see almost every day now (as a foreigner) is a disintegrating country that is divided by sheer bigotry and hatred for anything that is pure or good - compounded by anything that is foreign as basically evil - even if it is even against the best interest of your own country! The sheer hatred against anything that has to do with science its just extraordinary. If it has anything to do with environmental science, climate change, basic biology, vaccines, human reproduction all the applied sciences, it is deemed highly unnecessary and must be cut fm the budget for the sake of expediency. e.g. Diseases that was once completely eradicated (measles for one) is now popping up everywhere in the US, whose debilitating effect to pregnant women and their dying children just ignores the science behind it! Immunisation against a range of dangerous diseases that will kill many are also being not funded anymore. ('Let the children die' seems to be the latest policy of the US Government?)
Yet there are individuals like this ranting apologist Enrico here, just repeatedly pretends this is somehow all rational, and even contends somehow this is somehow someone else's fault.
Whatever happened to the USA having pride to be a positive influence as a nation in the world? All I see is an abyss where are once proud nation has returned to the gutter of xenophobia and self indulgent stupidity. Pity.
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Warren-Odom
June 8, 2025 at 10:36 pm
This DOES have much to do with the party in power -- but mostly, the PERSON in power who has warped the party, almost beyond recognition compared to just a few years ago.
We as citizens need to exercise OUR power to the utmost, which includes outreach to members of Congress, outreach to other voters, and the ultimate power -- the VOTE.
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Andrew James
June 9, 2025 at 4:48 am
Disagree. The fault lies with the American people. You voted in this current Administration, and now you have to face the consequences of your irrational decisions. I don't know anything about America anymore and trust anything that you say and do. NASA has been the shining light of the advancement of the sciences, and has contributed to do much of the technology with use today as well as the tremendous gain in knowledge. It has been a draw-card for foreign countries to participate both economically and philosophically with the direction of improving democracy and human advancement. The damage that the current administration has done is so devastating that dealing with the US means that you're no longer part of our future. My countrymen I'm so angry with what's going on, that will soon be prepared to dump the US into the bin of irrelevancy and disdain for anything that is good in this world. If you disagree with the blatant disregard, you should flex the power that you have through the ballot box and destroy the dictatorial attitude that the Administration is currently throwing at everyone. Science has given us the technological revolution that has made this world a better place, but now all we see is antiscience is being the evil. The USA is turning into a sectarian religious entity we are science is the enemy. So angry!
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Warren-Odom
June 8, 2025 at 10:44 pm
These cuts are way beyond the norm. Nixon's cancellation of the final 3 Apollo moon landings had multiple reasons, but a big contributor was budgetary -- the Vietnam War was racking up tremendous expenses.
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Andrew James
June 9, 2025 at 5:19 am
Not an excuse for treating friends and allies aligning to a greater improvement to humanity like dirt. Why hitch to discredited and disintegrating empire? NASA is the highest pinnacle that has been used to cling to a future utopia. It's defunding says to the rest of the world that we've been so stupid for following a presume leader to the future. Astronomy and astrophysics is a worldwide endeavour the benefits everyone regardless of race, ideology or personal gain. It's beauty is it selflessness. That is no longer apparent. Pity.
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Andrew James
June 9, 2025 at 5:27 am
Today "'Dependent upon SpaceX'
"But it's not just getting cargo and crews to the space station. SpaceX also dominates the launch of US military and commercial satellites, accounting for 87 per cent of the American orbital launches in 2024."
Musk responds on X that SpaceX "will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately"
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-09/nasa-spacex-impact-from-trump-musk-fallout/105395938
Yet NASA is about to be defunded! What the hell is going on?
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Enrico the Great
June 9, 2025 at 1:32 pm
Nixon
https://www.planetary.org/articles/1027-when-nixon-stopped-human-exploration
Obama
https://www.cnet.com/science/obama-ends-moon-program-endorses-private-spaceflight/
OK---this one might NOT be relevant but interesting.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/3901/1
Trump
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4999/1
ugh--- PROXMIRE
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Proxmire
I seem to have become Mr. Grant's bete-noir---pity because we may be closer in thought than he realizes on space exploration. This resulted from some give and take between us still up under other news entries on this site. In my case Mr. Grant has mistaken an attempt to provide some context on internal U.S. politics in for a defense of these cuts. While I would share the desire for efficiency in the way NASA is run I would ALSO wish for a 5 or 6 fold INCREASE in its budget. I most certainly did NOT rant as Mr. James says. But Mr. James. anti-American prejudice as illustrated in his screed above prevents him from disagreeing with me civilly. C'est domage!
Alas NASA seems destined to be the whipping boy of politicians.
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Andrew James
June 10, 2025 at 7:06 pm
Firstly, anyone that thinks they can call themselves "the Great" already has a problem. Also thinking it's acceptable to write everything in big caps is clearly ranting.
The sheer damage that your Administration is doing to all the sciences remains to be of great concern. It affects to other countries who each in their own way contributes to programs like NASA in the desire to promote similar goals and aspirations.
According to the 'US Embassy and Consulate in Australia'
https://au.usembassy.gov/u-s-australia-relations/
It says in black-and-white: "Australia is a vital ally, partner, and friend of the United States. The United States and Australia maintain a robust relationship underpinned by shared democratic values, common interests, and cultural affinities. Economic, academic, and people-to-people ties are vibrant and strong. The two countries marked the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2015. ...Bilateral defense ties and cooperation are exceptionally close. "
As for science your own embassy says: "The two countries have also signed tax and defense trade cooperation treaties, as well as agreements on health cooperation, space, science and technology, emergency management cooperation, and social security. Many U.S. institutions conduct cooperative scientific activities in Australia. The United States and Australia responded to the Ebola and Zika epidemics and support the Global Health Security Agenda to accelerate measurable progress toward a world safe and secure from infectious disease threats."
Yet the US presently continues down the path of doing as much destruction to agreements and cooperation as possible, to the extent that it is producing strong anti-American sentiments. (That you consider what others say is a kind of 'prejudice' is ridiculous - especially for a country that supposedly promotes the concept of free speech!)
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Enrico the Great
June 9, 2025 at 1:50 pm
Forgot this one
Mondale---ambiguous?????
https://www.thespacereview.com/archive/3901-1.html
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Billo Fusroy
June 20, 2025 at 5:03 pm
This latest attempt by neoliberals to destroy our national social structure and infrastructure in order be able to sell it off to their bazillionaire friends for pennies on the dollar, is so maddening, indeed sickening! Such attempts to eliminate public government programs, even those working exceptionally well, like NASA, in order to divy up the commons among a very few private individuals -- the notorious .001% at the top of the wealth distribution -- has been allowed to worsen for decades now, and simply MUST be stopped before the nation implodes entirely, separating into one tiny class of persons each possessing centi-billions in wealth, and the massive power such wealth brings, and another class of the 99.999% who "must learn how to own nothing, and be happy" as the prophets from Davos express it! Resist, resist, resist, for as you possibly can, folks, because the more wealth and power they obtain,the less wealth and power we shall retain to repudiate, not to mention escape, the currently burgeoning new totalitarianism.
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Enrico the Great
June 30, 2025 at 6:31 pm
In re. NASA---my ENTIRE POINT has been that the reason that NASA in particular is an easy political target is because its activities are ignored by the various media. So, it gets lumped with the rest of the alphabet soup when the people are (often rightly) dissatisfied with "The Government". NSA gets good bang for the buck-----but the General Public is totally unaware of this.
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Enrico the Great
June 30, 2025 at 6:32 pm
NASA.
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Brian of DRAA
July 6, 2025 at 9:23 am
Thank you Billo for putting this coversation into context; all respondents are miffed by budget cuts to NASA, but the real issue goes far beyond Science and Tech; it is the privatization of public entities for pennies on the dollar. The current road map indicates the USA's destination is Russia.
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