Potential cuts of up to 50 per cent of NASA’s science budget could mean cancelling missions including the Hubble Space Telescope and the Voyager probes
By Jonathan O’Callaghan
13 March 2025
NASA’s headquarters in Washington DC
John M. Chase/Getty Images
NASA is preparing for substantial budget cuts that may force the cancellation of ongoing and upcoming missions across the solar system, leaving it facing a “brutal” future, experts have warned.
The space agency has already begun some layoffs as part of the extensive restructuring of US federal agencies by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an independent task force led by Elon Musk. Earlier this week, it announced it would close its Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy; the Office of the Chief Scientist; and the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility branch in the Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity in Washington DC, representing a total of 23 jobs at the agency.
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“Change of this magnitude is never easy, but our strength comes from our shared commitment to our mission and each other,” Janet Petro, NASA’s acting administrator, wrote in an email to staff. “I encourage you to support one another as we move forward.”
One employee of the Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy, who learned they had been laid off this week and were granted anonymity because of fear of reprisal, says they were an “easy target” because their office was established under the administration of Joe Biden. “Some people thought this might be coming,” they say.
The roles of chief technologist and chief economist for NASA were within this office, which “helped with strategic planning across the agency,” says the employee. That included managing the recent uptick in lunar missions and “making sure those missions don’t interfere with one another” when planning moon-based landing sites and operations.