NASA science faces 'very serious threat' from new White House budget, experts say

Large red letters spelling out NASA as a logo with a blue NASA icon nearby at the agency's headquarters.

A new White House fiscal year 2027 budget proposal for NASA is drawing sharp criticism from space advocates, who warn it could dramatically reshape the space agency by cutting overall funding by 23% and reducing its science programs by nearly half.

The newly released FY 2027 top-line budget request for NASA reduces the space agency's Science Mission Directorate from $7.25 billion to $3.9 billion, representing a 47% cut to science funding, coupled with a 23% cut to the agency's overall funding. The nonprofit Planetary Society issued a statement in response to the budget proposal, urging that it is notable not just for its scale, but for how it departs from long-standing budget practices.