Mars Advocates, Lawmakers, Industry Groups Decry NASA Budget Proposal

‘Skinny’ budget opponents argue cuts to science and other programs will derail U.S. leadership in human spaceflight.

Jack Daleo

Wednesday, May 07, 2025 at 07:30 AM ET

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Jack Daleo

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), the assigned launch vehicle for the Artemis III lunar landing, stands next to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. [Courtesy: NASA]

Key Takeaways:

The White House's FY2026 NASA budget proposes a 25% overall cut, reallocating funds to prioritize human exploration of the Moon and Mars while significantly reducing funding for science, mission support, and existing programs.
This budget threatens critical projects like SLS, Orion, Lunar Gateway, and Mars Sample Return, and could lead to workforce reductions and slow International Space Station operations.
The proposal faces broad opposition from a diverse array of stakeholders, including Mars advocacy groups, NASA contractors, scientific organizations, the European Space Agency, and congressional members, who argue the cuts are counterproductive, undermine U.S. leadership, and make ambitious space exploration goals unattainable.

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The largest space organization advocating for a sustained human presence on Mars is among detractors of the White House’s fiscal year 2026 budget request for NASA, which positions the Red Planet as a critical strategic priority.

President Donald Trump’s discretionary or “skinny” budget threatens to cut the space agency’s top-line funding by about 25 percent. Included in the plan is a slight boost in funding for human space exploration—including $1 billion in new investments for “Mars-focused programs”—at the expense of science, mission support, legacy spacecraft, and other key programs.