In line with a long-held goal of Elon Musk and his rocket manufacturer SpaceX, the Trump administration has proposed cutting around $6 billion from NASA’s budget and directing the remaining $1 billion toward projects aimed at Mars.
NASA’s spending will now be directed at “beating China back to the Moon and on putting the first human on Mars,” according to a copy of the discretionary budget that was uploaded to the agency’s website on Friday.
Along with terminating several “unaffordable” missions and cutting scientific missions for “fiscal responsibility,” NASA also stated that it will need to “streamline” its workforce, information technology services, NASA Center operations, facility maintenance, construction, and environmental compliance activities.
Anet In an email sent to the whole agency on Friday, NASA acting administrator Petro stated that the proposed austere budget, which would reduce the space agency’s spending by around 25%, “reflects the administration’s support for our mission and sets the stage for our next great achievements.”
According to the message, which CNBC was able to get, Petro encouraged NASA staff members to “persevere, stay resilient, and lean into the discipline it takes to do things that have never been done before — especially in a constrained environment.” She admitted that some of NASA’s “activities will wind down” and that the budget will “require tough choices.”
According to the paper posted on NASA’s website, the agency is “introducing $1 billion in new investments for Mars-focused programs” and committing over $7 billion for lunar exploration.
A manned expedition to Mars has long been a goal of SpaceX, one of the biggest contractors for the Department of Defense and NASA. The enormous Starship rocket, according to the company’s website, is built to “transport both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond.”
Musk, the creator and CEO of SpaceX, is a key figure in President Donald Trump’s administration. He spearheaded a campaign to reduce the federal government’s size, budget, and capabilities and used the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to influence regulatory changes.
In 2020, Musk, who usually makes bold and inaccurate predictions for his businesses, declared that he was “highly confident” that SpaceX would put people on Mars by 2026.
In her memo, Petro emphasized that NASA would retire the Orion spacecraft, the Gateway programs, and the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket under the discretionary budget.
Additionally, it would terminate its Mars Sample Return (MSR) Program, which aimed to “collect and send samples of Martian rocks, soils, and atmosphere back to Earth for detailed chemical and physical analysis” using robotic systems and rockets, as well as its green aviation spending, according to a website for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Should the budget be approved, the space agency’s mission support, Earth science, and space science divisions would be among the most severely cut.
In her email to the entire agency, Petro did not specifically name any aerospace or defense businesses. In the event that the SLS is not available, SpaceX, ULA, and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin are prepared to carry on with their flights. The prime contractor in charge of the SLS program at the moment is Boeing.
“This is by no means the first time that NASA has been asked to adapt, and what makes NASA unique is your ability to deliver, even under pressure,” she wrote.
The U.S. Senate has yet to accept software entrepreneur Jared Isaacman as President Trump’s choice to head NASA. On Wednesday, the Senate Commerce Committee moved forward with his nomination.
