NASA faces massive budget cuts from Trump administration

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The White House under Donald Trump is planning significant cuts to the US space agency NASA's budget for the coming year. So far, it is only a proposal, but if the cuts of around 20 percent overall and almost 50 percent in scientific research projects are implemented, some planned missions that are already at an advanced stage could come to a premature end. Although the Trump administration's proposal has not yet been made public, protest is already being voiced by politicians, scientists and even Trump friend Elon Musk.

According to the proposal, the NASA budget is to be reduced to a total of 20 billion US dollars for 2026. The space agency still has 25 billion dollars at its disposal for the current year and the same amount in 2024. The department for scientific missions is particularly affected. This is currently supported with around 7.3 billion dollars, but this is to be cut to 3.9 billion dollars for 2026, according to the US government's proposal. This corresponds to a cut of 47 percent.

Science missions under threat

This means that some important projects for scientific research are on the brink. Although the budget proposal still provides for support for the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes already orbiting in space, the new "Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope" is no longer to be launched. At the beginning of this year, the space agency declared that NASA's next large space telescope was fully on schedule and had passed a milestone when it was connected to its spacecraft. In addition, two NASA missions to Venus to study the atmosphere and surface, which were planned for 2028 to 2030, and retrieval missions for soil samples from Mars are to be canceled ahead of schedule.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which oversees and manages the budget of federal programs for the US President, sent NASA its proposed budget for the upcoming 2026 fiscal year at the end of last week. The space agency then has three days to submit its own comments and counter-proposals, which will be incorporated into the US President's final budget request. On this basis, the White House will negotiate the budget with the US Congress, writes Ars Technica.

Proposal undermines upcoming NASA head

The budget proposal also contradicts the previous position of the designated new NASA director. The White House has nominated Jared Isaacman, who only last week spoke out in favor of scientific research. "NASA will advance science," he said , according to Spacenews. "We will use its scientific talent and capabilities to enable academic institutions and industry to increase the number of world-changing discoveries. We will send more telescopes, more probes and more rovers into space in an effort to understand our planet and the universe beyond."

However, Isaacman was apparently not involved in the budget proposal, as he has not yet been confirmed by the US Senate as the new NASA administrator. Typically, nominees are barred from any political activities until they are officially confirmed.

Criticism from MPs and Elon Musk

Headwinds are also coming from members of Congress. "Donald Trump's attack on NASA is a form of national self-destruction and will have unpredictable effects on scientific endeavors, research goals and our reputation around the world," said Democratic Senator Adam Schiff. The well-known Trump critic also expressed concerns about the cancellation of the Mars soil sample return mission: "It's a gift to China and a slap in the face to those who have worked for years to make the American space program the best in the world."

Elon Musk, head of the space company SpaceX and one of Donald Trump's advisors, also expressed his dismay at the proposed budget cuts. "Disturbing," writes Musk at X. "I'm a big supporter of science, but unfortunately can't participate in NASA's budget discussions because SpaceX is a major NASA contractor."

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