AAS Summary Of NASA FY 2026 Budget

Keith’s note: the American Astronomical Society (AAS) issued a release Congress Passes Fiscal Year 2026 Spending Bills for NSF, NASA, and DOE – here is the NASA portion: “Take action today! Congress has largely rejected the severe cuts to science proposed in the President’s Budget Request. Take a few minutes today to thank your members of Congress for their support of the sciences, and urge them to continue to provide robust and sustained support in the future: https://aas.org/action-alert-thank-you-fy2026 On 15 January 2026, the US Senate passed a “minibus” of Fiscal Year 2026 spending bills, following its passage by the House of Representatives on 8 January. … Note that as of 15 January 2026, the bills have been sent to the President to sign into law, but we are awaiting that final signature.” More below

NASA

The bill funds NASA at $24.4 billion, a 1.6% cut from FY2025. This includes $7.25 billion for the Science Mission Directorate (a 1.1% cut compared to the 47% cut proposed in the President’s Budget Request), and $143 million for the Office of STEM Engagement, rejecting the administration’s proposal to close this office, which funds the NASA Space Grant among other programs.

Additionally, the explanatory statement expresses concern over the facility and building closures at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Greenbelt campus, and it directs NASA to “preserve all the technical and scientific world-class capabilities at Goddard, including those that will be used to complete any mission funded in fiscal year 2026 by Congress during any campus consolidation.” It also directs NASA to contract a study with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine within 30 days regarding “the current technical and scientific capabilities housed at Goddard, what capabilities are positioned to ensure long-term success of the NASA mission, including for future cutting-edge scientific discovery and crewed space exploration, and what facilities are needed to house and operate those capabilities.” The explanatory statement also states that “NASA shall ensure that Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) employees are able to continue work with minimal disruption, including by considering a physical location of GISS near its previous location that supports GISS’s strong academic partnerships.”

Astrophysics

The bill provides $1.6 billion for Astrophysics. This includes:

• $49.3 million for Balloon Projects
• $98.3 million for the Hubble Space Telescope
• $208 million for the James Webb Space Telescope
• $80.5 million for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA)
• $300 million for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope
• $150 million for the Habitable Worlds Observatory

Added on January 16, 2026 at 1:10 pm: As noted earlier, the language of the House and Senate reports carries the same weight as the joint explanatory statement accompanying this bill. These reports provide funding levels for other missions, such as $63 million for the Chandra X-ray Observatory. 

Planetary Science

The bill provides $2.5 billion for Planetary Science. The explanatory statement states that the bill does not support the existing Mars Sample Return (MSR) program. However, it notes that “the technological capabilities being developed in the MSR program are not only critical to the success of future science missions but also to human exploration of the Moon and Mars.” It therefore provides $110 million for the Mars Future Missions program, including existing MSR efforts, “to support radar, spectroscopy, entry, descent, and landing systems, and translational precursor technologies that will enable science missions for the next decade, including lunar and Mars missions.” In addition to the Mars Future Missions program, the bill also provides:

• $300 million for NEO Surveyor
• $99 million for DAVINCI
• $500 million for Dragonfly
• $10 million for New Horizons
• $100 million for formulation of the Uranus Orbiter and Probe mission.

Heliophysics

The bill funds Heliophysics at $875 million. This includes:

• $25 million for the Parker Solar Probe
• $100 million for the Geospace Dynamics Constellation
• $109.5 million for HelioSwarm
• No less than $23 million from within current and prior year resources to continue to the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission.