Trump’s budget cuts could halt decades of progress in space science

For decades, NASA has pushed the boundaries of what humanity knows and what we dare to imagine. From walking on the Moon to exploring the distant reaches of our solar system, its missions have transformed science, inspired generations, and exponentially deepened our understanding of the cosmos. But now, that momentum is at risk of being undone by Trump’s proposed budget cuts.

On April 25, 2025, the White House Office of Management and Budget announced a plan that would slash NASA’s science program by a devastating 47%. Under the proposed NASA budget from President Trump’s administration, dozens of missions—including ones already built, launched, and delivering results—are facing cancellation.

These cuts aren’t just numbers on a spreadsheet, either. They threaten to derail some of the most important space science projects of our time. The Mars Sample Return mission is perhaps the most ambitious planetary science endeavor ever attempted.

Sure, this joint effort between NASA and the European Space Agency has seen its share of troubles. But its goal to bring Martian rock and soil samples back to Earth could offer our best chance yet to find signs of ancient life and understand the planet’s dramatic history.

Phase 1 of the mission is already in motion. NASA’s Perseverance rover has been collecting samples since 2021, storing them for a future retrieval mission that is proposed to launch in the early 2030s. If canceled now, we wouldn’t just be walking away from a mission, we’d be abandoning treasure that’s already in hand.

And Venus has long been overlooked, despite being Earth’s closest planetary neighbor and a cautionary tale of climate gone wrong. Two upcoming NASA missions were finally poised to change that.

DAVINCI (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging) is designed to plunge through Venus’s dense atmosphere, seeking clues about whether the planet once had oceans or the conditions for life. VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy) would orbit the planet, mapping its surface in unprecedented detail and searching for signs of geologic activity.

Together, these missions could answer fundamental questions about Venus’s past and offer insights into Earth’s future. Cutting them now would delay any serious exploration of Venus by decades.

Image source: gor_Filonenko/Adobe

But it isn’t just these missions that are at risk. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is nearly finished. Designed to investigate dark energy, find exoplanets, and deliver ultra-wide views of the cosmos, Roman is over 90% complete, on time, and on budget, yet the Trump administration still wants to cancel it.