NASA budget cuts threaten cancellation of dozens of science missions

The number of programs affected represents a threat to astronomy research without precedent in history. On May 30, the White House released details of the budget proposals it intends to entrust to federal agencies for fiscal year 2026, including NASA's. Several hundred pages thick, the technical annex published by the administration reveals, project by project, the allocation of funds it is defending for the famous American space agency. The least that can be said is that the scientific projects threatened with closure are numerous, given the widespread decline in funding across the four "divisions" of the Space Mission Directorate.

According to Le Monde , 44 of the agency's current or future space missions are threatened with outright cancellation as early as 2026, while nine more could be cancelled in the following years. In addition, 12 scientific missions are threatened with a drastic reduction (on average -60%) in their budgets.

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