NASA budget Cuts Eliminate Missions, SLS, And Space Station

The newly released NASA budget introduces major changes: the Orion spacecraft and the Lunar Gateway space station are among the projects to be canceled. With a total of $18.8 billion, the budget reflects a $6 billion — or 24% — reduction, signaling a shift in the agency’s investments toward crewed missions to the Moon and Mars.

Political and Strategic Realignment

This budget proposal reflects not only the Trump administration’s policy of reducing federal spending, but also a broader restructuring of NASA’s priorities. For decades, the agency has been at the center of political and financial disputes over the role of the U.S. space program in the 21st century.

If approved, the most visible change will be the termination of both the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) after the Artemis III mission, expected around 2027. Both projects have faced significant delays and cost overruns, fueling calls for their cancellation in favor of more modern and cost-effective commercial alternatives.

Orion has already consumed around $20 billion and continues to face technical issues, including problems with its life support system and heat shield. Meanwhile, SLS is decades behind schedule and has cost NASA $24 billion so far. Each launch of the single-use SLS costs around $4 billion and can only occur once every two years. Critics argue the project is a rehash of 1970s-era shuttle technology, focused more on job creation than innovation.

Lunar Gateway Also on the Chopping Block

In addition, the budget proposes scrapping the Lunar Gateway station, originally envisioned as a lunar-orbit outpost to support Moon and Mars missions. Due to delays, the station wouldn’t be operational until the mid-2030s, and critics see it as unnecessary.NASA will reassign the components already developed to other missions.

Despite these cuts, the Artemis program is not being shut down. On the contrary, the new budget includes a $7 billion increase for lunar exploration and an additional $1 billion for planning a future crewed mission to Mars — a strategic move, especially in response to China’s increasingly ambitious goals for Moon and Mars exploration.

The budget targets and eliminates missions that NASA considers scientifically unproductive relative to their cost.he top candidate is the Mars Sample Return mission, projected to cost up to $11 billion and not scheduled to launch until around 2035. Other potential cancellations include the aging Chandra X-ray Observatory (operating at $70 million per year), the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope ($3 billion, considered redundant), and $1.161 billion in Earth science missions.

NASA Shifts Focus to Deep Space and Private Partnerships

This reorientation reflects growing influence from groups that have long pushed for NASA to focus more on deep space exploration, human spaceflight, and cutting-edge technologies — while leaving more traditional roles, like Earth observation and low Earth orbit operations, to private industry.

The budget also eliminates green aviation projects and shifts attention to supporting the FAA in modernizing the U.S.’s outdated air traffic control system.

The budget quietly begins phasing out U.S. involvement in the International Space Station (ISS), which NASA plans to decommission and deorbit by 2030.Reports suggest the ISS may be in worse condition than previously believed, with cracks and air leaks that could force an earlier shutdown. In response, NASA appears to be pushing for private companies to develop their own stations and to accelerate the creation of a propulsion system to bring the ISS back to Earth for a controlled burn-up.

This proposal includes investments to simultaneously pursue exploration of the Moon and Mars while still prioritizing critical science and technology research,” said acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro. “I appreciate the President’s continued support for NASA’s mission and look forward to working closely with the administration and Congress to ensure we continue making progress toward achieving the impossible.

Read the original article on: New Atlas

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