The White House’s proposed budget would cancel NASA’s Gateway space station project

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 agency’s 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.”

In addition, the White House’s budget would phase out Boeing’s SLS and Lockheed Martin’s Orion after only three flights — 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.”