Preparing for the next NASA budget battle

When Congress passed a fiscal year 2026 "minibus" appropriations bill in January, much of the space community breathed a sigh of relief. Congress had rejected the steep cuts proposed by the Trump administration, including a nearly 25% reduction in the agency's overall budget and nearly 50% to science. The agency ended up with funding close to its 2025 level.

While NASA avoided the worst of the proposed cuts, it did not escape them entirely. One part of the agency feeling the hurt from the budget is its planetary science program. In addition to Congress's decision to cancel Mars Sample Return, the program's overall budget of $2.7 billion in 2025 shrunk by nearly $200 million in 2026.

"We can't continue everything from the past," warned Louise Prockter, director of NASA's planetary science division, during a town hall at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference March 16. "Not everything can continue forward or continue forward in the same way.