In the first bipartisan rebuke of the proposed FY 2027 budget cuts to NASA, the Co-Chairs of the Congressional Planetary Science Caucus - Rep. Judy Chu (D-California) and Rep. Don Bacon (R-Nebraska) - released the following statement:

“We are deeply alarmed that the Administration is once again proposing significant budget cuts to NASA and its science programs. NASA Science supports thousands of jobs and is essential to U.S. national security and leadership in space exploration, scientific discovery, and technological innovation. These drastic cuts would create enormous chaos and uncertainty for critical missions, the scientific workforce, and long-term research planning. At the same time, current funding for NASA Science has not kept pace with inflation, underscoring the need for more investment, not less. That is why, just weeks ago, we led over 100 bipartisan House Members in a letter to appropriators urging increased funding for NASA Science, and we will continue working on a bipartisan basis to ensure NASA receives the full, sustained funding it needs to lead the world in discovery and exploration.”

The Planetary Science Caucus and its Co-Chairs are a leading voice in Congress for advancing space science, research, and exploration in federal legislation and budgets. The Caucus represents Democrats and Republicans from across the United States, underlining the significance of this statement. Encourage your representatives to join the Caucus.

The White House’s FY 2027 budget request for NASA would eliminate nearly half of NASA’s science fleet. The Planetary Society has identified 53 missions* across all major science divisions that would be terminated. You can view the list of missions here.

The budget request itself attempts to conceal these terminations. Instead of explicitly zeroing out a mission's funding line, the FY 2027 budget subtly omits any mention of terminated missions. 

The only way to identify which science missions are proposed for termination is to compare programs line by line against prior-year budget documents and note which missions are missing from FY 2027.

The Planetary Society compiled this list based on our review of the budget documents in FY 2027, FY 2026, and FY 2025.

* This number was revised down, as we had incorrectly counted the TROPICS mission, which re-entered Earth's atmosphere in November of 2025. 

In a letter to House and Senate Appropriations Committee leadership, a group of 13 former NASA astronauts urged Congress reject proposed cuts to NASA, warning that "cuts of this magnitude would surrender the future of space exploration to other nations willing to embrace the challenge and reap the rewards of global leadership." The signatories includes former NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, former NASA Associate Administrator for Science Dr. John Grunsfeld. The collective spaceflight experience of the signatories is more than 647 days in space. The letter text can be found here.

The impactful letter comes as the White House Office of Management & Budget released a budget proposal that would slash the NASA budget by more than 23%, halve agency science funding, completely eliminate STEM engagement programs, and shut down more than 40 missions.