Large Space Station Cuts Are Planned Before A Real Budget Exists (Update)
Keith’s 14 May note: The “skinny” FY 2026 White House budget proposal tells NASA to “reduce the space station’s crew size and onboard research”. In advance of an actual budget, NASA is already preparing to implement deep cuts. Soon. (16 May Update from NASA PAO below)
According to sources, NASA-funded ISS science will soon be hit with a 50% reduction. The JSC Flight Operations Directorate (FOD) and the MSFC Payload and Mission Operations Division (PMOD) are being asked to cut (at a minimum) 50% of their staff.
Starting with the Crew 12 flight next year, NASA will only have 3 astronauts on ISS. With fewer crew on-orbit, reduced operations budgets, and minimal science funding, the amount of science being done on the space station by NASA will wither – and it will be this way for the 4 years leading up to eventual ISS deorbit by SpaceX.
The skinny budget says “The station’s reduced research capacity would be focused on efforts critical to the Moon and Mars exploration programs.” Whatever that means.
In a press release today about shifting ISS launches, NASA said that it “continues to review operations and will make future adjustments, as necessary, to support the space station’s needs, crew safety, and maximize science capability as the agency prepares for station’s retirement.”
The skinny budget chart offers little illumination regarding what is next, saying “The Budget reduces the space station’s crew size and onboard research, preparing for a safe decommissioning of the station by 2030 and replacement by commercial space stations. Crew and cargo flights to the station would be significantly reduced. The station’s reduced research capacity would be focused on efforts critical to the Moon and Mars exploration programs.”
As for what the Moon and Mars exploration is – no one knows. As for what the support for follow-on commercial space stations will be provided, no one knows. We don’t even know what happens to Artemis lunar activities or how the humans-to-Mars thing will work so that we can beat China etc.
But the cuts are starting – soon. Very soon.
Keith’s 16 May update: I just got this from NASA PAO: “NASA is evaluating crew and science operations to effectively manage the International Space Station Program due to cumulative, multi-year budget reductions, including the Fiscal Year 2025 full-year continuing resolution. Current International Space Station programmatic reviews are unrelated to the Fiscal Year 2026 budget proposal or anticipated Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations. More details will be available later.”
13 responses to “Large Space Station Cuts Are Planned Before A Real Budget Exists (Update)”
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And our leadership is as quiet as church mice.
Shameful.
Oh they know, but aren’t allowed to say anything…
When Obama made cuts to Constellation, folks raised hell.
Now Trump wants to make cuts, and our leadership is quiet as rats urinating on cotton.
The silence is deafening.
Meanwhile, please continue to work 60 hour workweeks to maintain schedule and don’t ask too many questions about whether you’ll have the privilege to continue to do so.
Seems to me the ISS is what Boeing, Lockheed, and other traditional old space companies like to showcase their product. And yet I haven’t seen much of a backlash from them (though I don’t track all their media mentions).
One can hope that Keith is wrong on this one. But nope, he’s 100% right. Pretty sure all leadership knows what will happen, just waiting for the new administrator to come in and review the RIF plans..
The payload ops capability at MSFC should be preserved. The value is in the people and institutional experience. Commercial stations are going to need that. So will crewed Mars missions.
We don’t need Flight Ops for flights to the Moon and Mars?
Did anyone tell them how long a mission to Mars is?
Brian Babin, the congressmen for almost all of the JSC area, has been silent.
Definitely time to elect a representative.
That part.
Does anyone know when Jared is to be confirmed? I guess every NASA employee wants this later than sooner, especially the probies who are getting closer to their probationary period ending. Also, NASA has a huge population of retirement ready folks, will the hiring freeze produce the RIF they need?
I’d like to see how much ‘real’ science is being done on ISS by the US over the last several years. From what I can tell a lot of the activity is repeats of prior ‘experiments’ and demonstrations. A lot of activity that NASA calls ‘education’ such as astronaut calls to schools I believe is also counter in ‘science’. From what I have seen NASA’s ‘science’ program has been a dismal failure. I believe at last count the number of ‘scientific papers’ after a flight program that is going on 30 years is 500. It is not a great record.
I’d like to see how much ‘real’ science is being done on ISS by the US over the last several years. From what I can tell a lot of the activity is repeats of prior ‘experiments’ and demonstrations. A lot of activity that NASA calls ‘education’ such as astronaut calls to schools I believe is also counted in ‘science’. From what I have seen NASA’s ‘science’ program has been a dismal failure. I believe at last count the number of ‘scientific papers’ after a flight program that is going on 30 years is 500. It is not a great record.