Hey space enthusiasts! 🚀 In a bold twist for U.S. space exploration, President Donald Trump's 2026 budget proposal is shaking up NASA’s plans. The proposal aims to slash 24% from NASA’s $24.8 billion budget, threatening to cancel key lunar projects like the over-budget Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion crew capsule after their third mission in 2027.
This dramatic shift targets what the White House calls "grossly expensive" projects, favoring instead a Mars-focused agenda that even gives a $1 billion boost to programs supporting human exploration of the Red Planet—aligning with the ambitious visions of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
While this move could spur cost-effective commercial systems for future lunar missions, it also risks upending long-held contracts with major contractors such as Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin, and may disrupt collaborations with international partners including the European Space Agency, Canada, and Japan.
Critics, including voices from the Planetary Society, see the cuts—like a 47% reduction in NASA's science budget—as a historic step backward for American leadership in space. As the space race heats up globally, these changes promise to reshape the journey toward the moon and beyond, leaving many young space fans and tech-savvy entrepreneurs on the edge of their seats!
Reference(s):
Trump 2026 space budget would cancel NASA rocket, lunar station
cgtn.com
