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Title: The White House's proposed budget would cancel NASA's Gateway space
station project

Date: Fri, 02 May 2025 20:14:59 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/science/space/the-wh...

The Trump administration's preliminary 2026 budget proposes the biggest
single-year cut to NASA funding in the agency's 67-year history. The cuts are
part of the White House's broader government "skinny budget," which aligns
with Elon Musk's DOGE wishlist. The NASA portion would gut the agencyΓÇÖs
science programs, cancel the Gateway space station project and phase out the
Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion capsule after a measly three
flights.

Trump's proposal would cut NASA's funding by more than $6 billion from its
2025 budget, from $24.8 billion to $18.8 billion. That's a 24 percent
decrease and, according to The Planetary Society, the biggest single-year
drop in NASA funding ever. Space.com says the most brutal cuts would be to
space science (a $2.3 billion decrease), Earth science ($1.2 billion less)
and legacy human exploration programs ($900 million less).

Also on the chopping block would be Gateway, the planned lunar orbit space
station that would act as a hub for missions to the Moon and (eventually)
Mars. Ditto for a joint program with the European Space Station to return
Mars soil samples to Earth. The White House proposes ending NASA's
sustainable aviation efforts (who needs a healthy planet, amirite?) and "any
funding toward misaligned DEIA [diversity, equity, inclusion and
accessibility] initiatives."

NASAΓÇÖs SLS rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft.NASA

In addition, the White House's budget would phase out Boeing's SLS and
Lockheed Martin's Orion after only three flights ΓÇö projects that cost $26.4
billion and $21.5 billion to produce. The Trump administration wants "more
cost-effective commercial systems" to replace them. (I'm no NASA budget
expert, but that sounds like quite the potential score for the president's
billionaire backers, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.)

The only area that would see an increase would be human space exploration,
which would see a $650 million boost. Bloomberg says it calls for over a $7
billion increase in lunar exploration funding and a new $1 billion investment
in Mars exploration.

If there's a silver lining for those who care about science, Congress would
have to approve the budget, so some or all of those bullet points could be
slashed before the 2026 funding is approved. Trump's political capital is
nowhere near where it was on Inauguration Day. Recent polling reveals
plummeting support, including over half of Americans viewing the 47th
president as a "dangerous dictator."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/science/space/the-wh...
cancel-nasas-gateway-space-station-project-201459838.html?src=rss

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