NASA FY 2026 Budget Amputation Highlights
Keith’s note: Here are the NASA excerpts from the FY 2026 Budget outline – “Support Space Flight. The Budget refocuses National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) funding on beating China back to the Moon and on putting the first human on Mars. By allocating over $7 billion for lunar exploration and introducing $1 billion in new investments for Mars-focused programs, the Budget ensures that America’s human space exploration efforts remain unparalleled, innovative, and efficient. To achieve these objectives, the Budget would streamline the NASA workforce, information technology services, NASA Center operations, facility maintenance, and construction and environmental compliance activities. The Budget also terminates multiple unaffordable missions and reduces lower priority research, resulting in a leaner Science program that reflects a commitment to fiscal responsibility.”
- Mars Sample Return: cancelled
- SLS and Orion: cancelled after 3 flights
- Gateway: cancelled
- Landsat Next mission: descoped
- Climate monitoring satellites: cancelled
- Space Technology: 50% cut
- ISS: reduce crew and science, splash in 2030
- Green Aviation: gone
- STEM/Education: Its woke so its gone.
- HAPPY NATIONAL SPACE DAY!
11 responses to “NASA FY 2026 Budget Amputation Highlights”
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I really don’t think that Congress will let a nearly a 25% budget cut happen. The WH proposal is in total opposition the the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2025 – MCC25339, and I believe the final budget will be negotiated close to the Senate’s version. The first (Russell Vought – OBM) Administration tried for similar, and Congress pushed back, and in general ignored the WH. In the conformation hearing, it appears Ted Cruz really wants the Lunar Gateway.
I wonder (and hope) once Isaacman is confirmed, that he will fight for NASA’s budget.
*One the ground, There are hints that there may be back channel talk from Congress, and projects that appear to be on the WH chopping block will (hopefully) be saved in the 2026 budget. One project that has/had been on the bubble had a trade/proposal/rework only funded till earlier this year, a few weeks ago got more funding extending it September – and bringing more folks onto it.
They’ve let him cut lawfully appropriated money this year, why would they stop him next year? Could they stop him? As the arstechnica article a few weeks back noted if the budget isn’t signed by October 1 he could just act unilaterally on his president’s budget anyways. And since he’s the one who signs it he’s capable of making that happen.
This is more than 25%
The last real budget was FY24, $24.875B. In 2025 buying power, that was $26.8B (inflation has been high). The proposed FY26 budget of $18.8B is a 29% reduction to a number that was already down a bunch since 2020.
With these proposed cuts, I see little hope for the survival of NASA Glenn and other NASA Aero Centers before this President and his administration are shown the door. The midterms will be a crucial battle in the election cycle.
Exactly! Only point of exception is with cutting climate monitoring satellites. The value of these is not the immediate measurements, but rather the long-term continuity over decades of the data records. That is not something you ever get back.
MSR is more cost effective that a manned mission to Mars. The next available window for the fastest transit to Mars is 2030, and then it’s 8-9 months. It’s doubtful a human rated craft and lander can be developed that quickly, unless you increase NASA’s budget by 30%+ and bring on more engineers & partners. That is why the Moon is far more important first to develop the technology first. Including Gateway.
In addition, the NASA/DARPA DRACO nuclear vehicle needs to be launched and validated for the fastest time to Mars (estimated 45 days), and that isn’t until 2027.
*Elon’s “promises” are most often not realistic.
Personally I have always said that SLS was really a budget-compromise system using technology decades old, and they should have taken the time to develop a launch vehicle with more reusability.
It’s a budget that would appeal to someone who doesn’t think the US should be doing any space science and doesn’t believe in climate change, which I suppose is you. I also like how you ALMOST figure out what’s going on, politically. Cuts to Artemis and SLS would primarily hurt red states, while cuts to science primarily hurt blue states. So cancelling a nearly-complete space telescope that’s had good programmatic performance? Sure. Fly two extra lame duck missions of a cancelled program (which will push it at least past the mid terms likely)? hmmmmm.
Left unmentioned in the document is that it would probably lead to the cancellation of RST and DAVINCI at a minimum. I like the incredibly derisive language used to describe L-next even though if he had wanted to just do a copy of L9 (which isn’t an invalid strategy) he could have started that process during their pre phase A mission architecting in 2020 (also is gold plated even a good insult, given their boss’s famous predilection for interior decoration?). This budget is also contrary to (seemingly authentic) statements by the likely incoming administrator. The lack of consistency is because the only person’s consistent vision being pushed forward with this budget is Russell Vought, an avowed anti-science Luddite, among other less polite terms, who does not believe scientific progress is something the US government should be participating in. It’s difficult to imagine anyone with even a passing interest in NASA over the last 40 years to think that to be true, but I guess here you are.
No you silly rabbit. Obama killed Constellation, which had nothing to show for it but bad requirements and a test flight to prove a SRB could fly by itself.
It’s interesting to see folks like you not have that same energy for Trump with this nonsensical cut, that you did for Obama.
Cut the woke.
Most of you haven’t a clue what woke really means.
DEIA infected NASA.
So you want to go back to the days when only White men were considered good enough to be engineers around here. Or when you had to go to certain schools to be a part of the old boy network?
No thanks,
You people are sad and hilarious.
Who are these folks commenting like they’re experts on NASA? The cuts are haphazard, misguided at best. Most of it is just as “well thought-out” as cuts to the FAA, HHS, CFPB, NNSA, etc. These cuts will decimate NASA period. It’s not perfect but so far it’s landed men on the moon, sent 2 spacecraft out of the solar system, landed on Mars several times, deployed telescopes that have vastly increased our understanding of the universe, plus so much more.