White House May Cut NASA Budget by $5 Billion, Including Science Programs

The Donald Trump administration has presented a draft budget for the 2026 fiscal year, which provides for a radical reduction in funding for NASA’s scientific programs. According to preliminary data, the agency’s expenses could be cut by 20%, and the scientific direction will lose half of its funds, Ars Technica reports.

Image source: NASA

According to the budget proposal presented by NASA this week, the agency’s overall funding would be cut from $25 billion to $20 billion. But the biggest loss would be in NASA’s Science Directorate, which oversees research in astrophysics, Earth science, planetary science, and other areas. Its funding could fall from $7.5 billion to $3.9 billion.

The astrophysics division could lose two-thirds of its budget, receiving only $487 million. Heliophysics faces serious cuts, with funding falling by more than two-thirds, to $455 million. Earth science will lose 50% of its funds, to $1.033 billion, and planetology will lose 30%, to $1.929 billion.

Also, despite the promise of continued support for missions like the Hubble and James Webb telescopes, the budget proposal excludes funding for the new Nancy Grace Roman space telescope, even though the spacecraft is already assembled and ready to launch in two years. Now its fate is in question. The document explicitly states: “Support for the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes will continue, but no other telescopes will be funded.”

Image source: GSFC/SVS

It is also proposed to stop funding the Mars Sample Return program and the DAVINCI mission to Venus. In addition, the possible closure of the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Maryland, where about 10,000 people work, is particularly alarming. However, according to analysts, these measures could cause irreparable damage to the scientific reputation of the agency. One expert even described the situation as an “extinction-level event” for NASA’s scientific programs.

The proposed budget must first be approved by Congress. NASA can then appeal any proposed adjustments, for which it has 72 hours. The document is then turned into the president’s official budget request, a process expected to take four to six weeks.

Some members of Congress have already expressed strong opposition to the proposals. “These massive cuts to NASA’s science programs will not go unanswered,” said Rep. George Whitesides, a California Democrat. “We were warned about a potential 50 percent cut. Now we know that’s true. I will fight to preserve America’s leadership in space.”

With the budget’s fate still uncertain, there is a risk that if approval is delayed, the White House could implement a so-called “funds freeze,” effectively putting the proposed budget into effect on October 1, regardless of Congress’s position.