The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope – which has been completely built and should be launched in 2027 – could be canceled if the NASA budget is issued by the Trump administration. Credit: NASA
NASA could see a 20 % cut at its total budget of 2026, with funding for its scientific division cut in half, if a preliminary budget proposal is issued by the White House. The cuts, among other impacts, would have canceled several missions and close the NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
The cuts proposed were arranged in an internal document called a passage, sent by the management and budget office of the White House to NASA Thursday. According to the reports of Ars Technica AND The Washington PostThe passage requires to cut $ 5 billion from the overall NASA budget of $ 25 billion.
Based on the proposed budget, the Astrophysical Division of NASA would decrease from around $ 1.5 billion to $ 487 million, a 68 %reduction. The Solar Scientific Division of NASA would see a similar reduction. The budget for Earth Sciences would be reduced by 50 % to $ 1.033 billion and planetary sciences would receive a 30 % cut to $ 1.929 billion.
According to reports, James Webb Space Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope of NASA would remain financed and operational. However, the Nancy Grace Roman spatial telescope, designed to conduct a distant galaxies and young exoplanetary systems to conduct infrared, will not receive any funding – although it has already been built and expected for the launch in 2027
In addition, the NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who plays a leading role in the research and construction of the Agency’s space – could see all 10,000 of his person fired.
The cuts proposed to NASA’s budget – for a long time rumors in the astronomical community – come after the agency eliminated 23 positions last month when it closed its technology, politics and strategy office, the head of the scientist head and a branch of the office for diversity and equal opportunities.
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What comes later
After receiving the passage, NASA’s leadership is 72 hours to present appeals and justifications. So the White House will incorporate him into the President’s balance sheet request later this spring before sending it to the congress.
The members of the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives will examine and change the budgets for all federal agencies before potentially approving the final draft in October 2025, the beginning of the tax year.
It is likely that the budget of the White House will meet the opposition to the congress, where NASA has several strong supporters. In March, several US senators introduced a NASA’s authorization bill, intended to ensure that the science and exploration of the Agency’s space continues to be a priority. That invoice would have set the agency’s budget at $ 25.5 billion. The senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas) were among the Bipartisan group that pushed for the account.
In response to the passage cuts, the American Astronomical Society (AAS) said today in a declaration that was “seriously worried”. The AAS warned that the cuts, if put in place, would be “catastrophic” for the leadership of the country in space science and that it is unlikely that the private sector compensates the damage. “These cuts will surely involve the loss of American leadership in science,” said Aas Dara Norman president.
