TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - United States President Donald Trump plans to slash NASA's budget allocation for the next year. The amount to be cut is around US$6 billion from the 2025 budget allocation of approximately US$24.8 billion. This means that the funding for the U.S. space agency will drop by 24.3 percent.
Acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro stated that the agency appreciates the U.S. Government's decision to reduce NASA's budget to US$18.8 billion in 2026. “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," she said in an official statement quoted on Sunday, May 4, 2025.
The budget cut plan was publicized through NASA's website. The agency detailed several budget reductions in various sectors.
Citing Space Flight Now, the space and earth science division will also feel the impact of budget cuts, amounting to US$2.3 billion and US$1.2 billion, respectively. A total of US$7 billion from the budget for human space exploration will be allocated for lunar exploration. There is also a $1 billion investment for the Mars exploration program.
One of the projects affected by this budget cut is the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion Capsule after the Artemis III mission. The Trump administration is paving the way for the next generation of cost-effective commercial systems.
NASA stated that the budget also ends the Gateway Program, with the ability to reuse components produced for other missions.
NASA's fund will also focus on transitioning the International Space Station to a commercial station by 2030. Research at the space station will be directed towards lunar and Martian exploration.
According to the White House's official statement, the budget cut for NASA is to surpass China's plans to send humans back to the moon and to place the first human on Mars. With the existing funds, NASA can still optimize space exploration to remain unrivaled, innovative, and efficient.
Budget cuts are expected to reduce the workforce and central operations at NASA, IT services, facility maintenance, construction compliance, and environmental activities. However, according to the White House, this new budget scheme will halt expenditures or cancel funds originally intended for green aviation programs related to climate change issues. Nevertheless, Funding remains for air traffic control development and other technologies that can be used for commercial purposes.
The Planetary Society strongly opposes the government's budget cut, deeming this move a setback for the U.S., which has been leading innovation in science and space exploration.
"The White House has proposed the largest single-year cut to NASA in American history," reads the official statement from The Planetary Society.
The budget cut is also considered to have been decided without input from the NASA administrator, who should have provided input for consideration. This new policy is also said to be inconsistent with Trump's campaign to push the U.S. to the forefront in space exploration.
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