Uncertainty over funding in 2025 and the expectation of new NASA leadership after the election of US President Donald Trump led to a set of problems at the agency, which required a new wave of layoffs. NASA’s key laboratory, JPL, which deals with planetary projects, announced the layoff of 5% of its employees or 325 people. This is the second wave of cuts in the laboratory in a year and, as they hope, the last.
View of the JPL laboratory complex. Image Source: JPL
JPL employees were supposed to receive personal layoff notices yesterday (November 13) after an individual online session with management. The first wave of layoffs was announced in February of this year and affected 530 laboratory employees and 40 contractor workers. This time, a little fewer workers were fired, but the number still runs into the hundreds. After all, the laboratory will have 5,500 permanent employees. JPL management believes that this staff will remain for years, despite the upcoming change in NASA leadership and funding problems.
NASA has serious problems. The Artemis lunar exploration program is struggling, with its budget and timeline ballooning. It is possible that when Trump comes to power, the program will be revised – there are many prerequisites for this, including unreliable partners such as Boeing, which failed the Starliner program and could jeopardize the Artemis program (the company is responsible for the first stage of the SLS rocket and its integration) . Difficulties also arose with Lockheed Martin’s Orion spacecraft – its heat shield turned out to be unreliable. NASA has not yet focused on this, but the situation may change with the arrival of new leadership, which will likely be announced in January.
At the beginning of 2025, major changes in US space and technology policy are possible. It can be assumed that the dismissal of JPL specialists will not help the success of the country’s space programs. However, the question of whether the budget of NASA and JPL will be increased remains open.