The Trump administration has proposed a significant restructuring of NASA's budget for fiscal year 2026, prioritizing lunar and Martian exploration while proposing cuts to other areas [1, 3]. The proposed budget slashes NASA's funding by $6 billion, a 24% reduction from the enacted 2025 levels, bringing it down to $18.8 billion [2, 5]. This has sparked concerns among experts, who fear the cuts could hinder U.S. space exploration efforts [6, 14].
Moon and Mars Initiatives
The budget allocates over $7 billion for lunar exploration and introduces $1 billion in new investments for Mars-focused programs [1, 3, 23]. This includes continued support for the Artemis program, aiming to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon [3, 9]. However, the budget proposes phasing out the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion capsule after the Artemis III mission, favoring more cost-effective commercial alternatives [1, 3, 8].
Cuts and Cancellations
Deep cuts are proposed for space science, Earth science, and legacy human exploration systems [2, 3]. The Mars Sample Return mission faces cancellation, with the budget suggesting future crewed missions to Mars will handle sample retrieval [2, 3, 5]. The Lunar Gateway project, a planned space station in lunar orbit, would also be eliminated [2, 5, 6]. Funding for the International Space Station (ISS) would be reduced by $508 million, with a focus on transitioning to commercial space stations by 2030 [1, 3, 5, 23].