Trump Administration Proposes Cutting $6 Billion From NASA's Budget

Source: Bloomberg News

President Donald Trump’s proposed budget for next year calls for sweeping cuts to many of NASA’s programs, including a plan to phase out the agency’s Boeing Co.-made moon rocket, reduce crews and operations on the International Space Station and gut science initiatives.

Trump’s funding request would decrease NASA’s budget by more than $6 billion from what the agency received for 2025. The proposed $18.8 billion budget includes cuts across NASA’s entire portfolio, but the biggest changes would fall on the agency’s science programs, with a nearly $2.3 billion reduction in funding.

In the budget plan, the White House calls on NASA to phase out the “grossly expensive and delayed” Boeing-built Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket and the Lockheed Martin Corp. Orion crew capsule after just three flights. The budget includes a plan to replace the vehicles with “more cost-effective commercial systems” for sending humans to the moon.

Powerful members of Congress like Texas lawmakers Senator Ted Cruz and Congressman Brian Babin have fiercely defending the current architecture to go back to the moon, including the SLS rocket and the Orion capsule, potentially leading to a major budget battle for the agency.

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-02/trump-administration-proposes-cutting-6-billion-from-nasa-s-budget?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc0NjIwMDM0OSwiZXhwIjoxNzQ2ODA1MTQ5LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTVkxPSThUMVVNMFcwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJDNjgyQTUwQzJCRDM0MTFCQTgwQjEwQjZEQjczQzM1MSJ9.Us_uvMJMaTPSScFRRLCveXCWpUOh4wTj7_R3bNt-uBQ