NASA unveiled its proposed fiscal year 2026 budget on May 30, detailing significant changes. The $18.8 billion proposal represents a substantial quarter reduction from the $24.9 billion received in FY2025, a level last seen in 1961 after adjusting for inflation.
This budget decrease includes a one-third reduction in NASA's workforce, from 17,391 to 11,853 direct-funded civil servants. The budget also shows deep cuts to science programs, with a 47% decrease in funding, totaling $3.9 billion. This involves canceling over 40 science projects, as noted by Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at The Planetary Society: “It’s generally pretty much what we expected,” he said.
Among the canceled missions are the Mars Sample Return (MSR) program, Landsat Next, several Earth System Observatory missions (excluding GRACE-Continuity), CYGNSS, and various smaller missions. Planetary science cuts include ending funding for the Mars Odyssey and MAVEN missions, canceling NASA's support for the ESA's Rosalind Franklin rover, and terminating DAVINCI, VERITAS, and participation in ESA's EnVision mission. Several extended missions, including Juno, New Horizons, and OSIRIS-APEX, are also slated for termination.
In astrophysics, while the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will continue, its funding is significantly reduced, to $156.6 million. Other astrophysics missions, including Chandra X-Ray Observatory and Fermi, face termination, along with the Astrophysics Probe program and several Explorer-class missions. The heliophysics budget will also see cuts.
The biological and physical sciences division will see a budget reduction of more than two-thirds. Dreier expressed surprise at the inclusion of some missions like MAVEN, Juno, and New Horizons, given their scientific contributions. He also highlighted that the budget would effectively end plutonium-238 production.
These science cuts stand in contrast to increased funding for exploration. The budget proposes $864 million for a new “Commercial Moon to Mars (M2M) Infrastructure and Transportation Program,” replacing SLS/Orion after Artemis 3. It also includes over $1 billion for human Mars exploration projects, such as a Mars lander demonstration and commercial payload deliveries to Mars.
Reaction to the proposed budget has been overwhelmingly negative. Dreier expects amplified concerns, noting "There’s definitely a lot of significant concern about what this does to the workforce.” He further stated that the budget is considered “dead on arrival” on Capitol Hill. Eric Fanning, president and CEO of AIA, stated, “The proposed budget falls short, making heavy-handed cuts to mission-critical programs that could jeopardize our space leadership.” AIA recommended funding NASA at $25.6 billion or more.