Today, the Committee on Medium has published its recommendations for discretionary financing for the 2026 (FY 2026) financial year. In addition to the recommendation of considerable cuts for international programs, education, health and other departments, the budget lowers the financing of several NASA programs and initiatives. Overall, to provide that the budget for 7 billion US dollars for moon research and 1 billion US dollars for programs that focus on Mars. However, NASA is also with deep cuts and the cancellation of many programs that are part of their “Monds for Mars” and scientific goals.
The budget proposal says several times that NASA's priorities should bring back to the moon in front of China Astronauten (which plans to send the first Taikonauts to the moon surface by 2030) and the first space agency to send people to Mars. At the same time, the budget calls for the cancellation of the SLS, Orion, Gateway and Mars sample return (MSR) missions. NASA also leads “cheaper” measures, in particular commercial starting services and space stations.
The budget requires a total reduction of $ 6.34 billion compared to the 2025 financial year when NASA was assigned 25.4 billion US dollars. This will make the NASA budget around 18.8 billion dollars for the coming year, roughly the NASA budget for 1980 ($ 18.925 billion, adapted to inflation).
Moon to Mars
As the top priority of the 2026 financial year, the proposed budget recommends an additional $ 647 million for the exploration of human space, especially for “Mars focus programs”. This includes the mission for the rehearsal return mission, which is now responsible for future occupation missions for the 2030s. This represents a reversal of the agency's earlier decision to carry out a joint robot rehearsal repayment in which an orbiter, landing, rehearsal call helicopter and a promotion vehicle developed by NASA and the ESA are involved.
This was mostly motivated by budget problems and the lack of progress in many elements of the mission architecture “Moon to Mars”. This included the proposed Deep Space Transport (DST) and the Mars base camp, which were classified as significant for the long-term vision of NASA for sending missions with occupation missions on Mars. Without a clear date on which Astronauts would reach Mars, the MSR was seen as an inexpensive alternative that could be sent in the meantime. However, the mission has been in the budget for years and (according to the report) is “roughly over the budget” and “unaffordable”.
As for the Artemis program, NASA is again exposed to a great restructuring of its proposed mission architecture and deep cuts. In short, NASA is faced with a reduction of 879 million US dollars for Legacy Human Exploration Systems. In particular, the proposed budget includes a plan to exit the Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion room vehicle after completing the Artemis III mission. From 2016, NASA planned to use the SLS to deliver the elements of the moon door to the moon, which would be combined with a reusable moonlander. With the SLS and Orion, astronauts would be delivered to the gateway by 2028 and begin to lead regular missions to the surface.
In 2019, Vice President Mike Pence announced that this schedule should be accelerated by four years. From now on, NASA was the task of returning astronauts to the moon at the latest in 2024. As a result, the gate was depressed, and SpaceX was contracted with the start of the core elements of the station – the power and drive element (PPE) and the outpost of the station (Halo) – with the help of the Falcon focus (halo). This mission should take place in 2024 (now 2027), just a few months before Artemis III should take place.
In the meantime, NASA had to examine alternatives to gateway and reusable moonlanders. By 2020, the task of creating a human landing system (HLS) was (again) awarded to SpaceX for their Starship -HLs. Nevertheless, the gateway remained a key element of the Artemis program and should be completed in 2028 with the SLS with the delivery of the International Hustling module (I-HAB). After that, NASA awaited missions to the moon with a rate from once a year. However, after 2027, NASA is now facing the report of the SLS, Orion and the Gateway.
“Sls Alone Costs $ 4 Billion Per Launch and Is 140 Percent Over Budget. The budget Funds A Program to Replace Sls and Orion Flight to the Moon With More Cost-Effective Systems That Wood Support More AmbitioS Subseus. The budget Gateway, A Small Lunar Space Station in Development with International Partners, which would have been used to support future SLS and Orion Missions
Earth science and technology
As with the first Trump government, deep cuts are proposed for the earth science programs of NASA. In particular, the report identifies the Landsat next mission as an example of “satellites of climate surveillance with a low priority”. This mission should come onto the market by the end of 2030/early 2031 and build on the success of its predecessors by offering improved measurements and better temporal, spatial and spectral resolutions. Instead, the agency is instructed to restructure this “two-billion dollar mission” and “find more favorable ways to maintain the continuity of landsat images”.
Another recommendation is to reduce the budget of space technology programs by $ 531 million (approximately half). This section of the report deals with “failed spatial drive projects” that are not specially named. However, this is probably about researching NASA to the nuclear drive, such as the demonstration rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (Draco). This core thermal drive concept is part of a common NASA-DAR-TAR-DARNA company, together with Lockheed Martin, to create a system that could dramatically reduce the transit times to Mars.
Once again, the commercial sector is recommended as an alternative: “The reductions scaling or eliminating also technology projects that NASA does not need or are better suited for research and development of the private sector.” A further $ 346 million are reduced from Aeronautics research, including the elimination of research on “green aviation” and climatic approaches. However, the authors of the report express a persistent commitment to “the protection of the development of technologies with air traffic control and defense applications that create savings”.
Other cuts
In the meantime, other areas described as “research research with lower priority” are shortened, including mission support, geosciences, stem engagement and the International Space Station (ISS). A reduction of 1.134 billion US dollars is recommended for mission support, which means that NASA “has to rationalize the workforce, IT services, the NASA center, the maintenance of the facilities and the conformity activities for the construction and environmental conformity”. In short, NASA is expected to do less and emphasize the “efficiency”.
The budget also contains a financing of $ 508 million for the International Space Station (ISS). Since the retirement of the ISS is planned for 2030, the budget cuts are expected. The specified purpose of the reduction “, however, reflects the upcoming transition to a more cost -effective commercial approach for human activities in space when the space station approaches the end of its life cycle”. The report reduces the size of the ISS crew, lowers the funds for research on board and reduces the crew and freight flights to the train station.
The report also states that the reduced research capacity of the station “on” for the moon and Mars exploration program is concentrated. Space and additive production.
Finally, the budget reduces financing for the Office of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (StEM) programs by $ 143 million. The report is rather weird on this point and explains that “[S]Nasil in earlier generations inspired by the Apollo Lunar Landings, NASA will inspire the next generation of discoverers by exciting, ambitious space missions, not by by Subsidizing awake programming and research And had minimal effects on the air and space-free work. “
Summary
A thorough reading of the budget illustrates a few things. While it emphasizes the need that NASA remains a leader in space and emphasizes the importance of its “moon for Mars” goals, it also suggests cuts that could significantly impair NASA's efforts. In practically all information, it is about the financing of programs, geosciences, climate surveillance and everything that is in line with the diversity programs of diversity, justice and inclusion (Dei). It also emphasizes the outsourcing mission elements and goals for the trade area.
In view of the specified positions and guidelines of the Trump government, this is not surprising. It is also in accordance with the spatial policy that was issued during his first term of office of the President, which opened the commercialization and financing for geoscientific and environmental programs. However, this most recent budget continues through the recommendation of comprehensive commercialization, the removal of the SLS, Orion and the Mond Gateway, the considerable cuts in ISS research and the known anti-dei measures of the Trump management.
Despite the considerable cuts and cancellations, NASA administrator Janet Petro expressed in a recently carried out press release from NASA on behalf of the agency:
“This proposal includes investments to pursue the research of the moon and Mars at the same time and at the same time prioritize critical science and technology research. I appreciate the president support of the president for the mission of NASA and look forward to working closely with the administration and the congress to ensure that we continue to make progress in achieving the impossible.”
Credit: NASA, whitehouse.gov
