NASA may be under major threat as President Trump reportedly considers slashing 50 percent of the US space agency's budget.
Budget cuts across federal agencies have been widespread since tech billionaire Elon Musk took charge of the Department for Government Efficiency (DOGE), as part of its promise slash up to $2,000,000,000,000 in federal spending.
The Associated Press estimates that hundreds of thousands of federal workers have already been impacted by reductions in departments like Veterans Affairs, Defense, Health, and Human Services.
Just weeks ago, layoffs hit the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), only for 180 former employees to receive an unexpected email asking them to return to work days later.
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Now, over 1,000 NASA employees could be next in line, which could spell disaster for US space agency’s future.
According to Ars Technica's Eric Berger, Trump's administration is expected to slash NASA's budget by as much as 50 percent.
Moreover, sources reportedly told Berger that NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) could soon face an existential threat.
"If this is implemented, it would be nothing short of an extinction-level event for space science and exploration in the United States," Planetary Society chief of space policy Casey Dreier told Ars Technica.
"Losing this much money, this fast, has no precedence in NASA's history."
He warned such a drastic funding cut would 'force terrible decisions, including turning off scores of active, productive, irreplaceable missions, halting nearly all new mission development, and decimating the country's space science workforce.'
NASA officials haven’t yet confirmed the reports, but Nicola Fox, associate administrator of the SMD, responded to optimism when asked about the possible cuts during a press conference.
"We haven't had any information yet about the budget, and I hate planning something on rumours and speculation," Fox explained. "You know, we will continue to do great science. We'll continue to have a balanced science portfolio, for sure. And you know, we'll be grateful for what we get, and we'll do great stuff with it."
The SMD makes up roughly a third of NASA's overall budget and has been behind some of its biggest achievements, including deep space missions to Pluto, asteroid sample return missions and discoveries from the James Webb Space Telescope.
However, losing half of its budget could bring science spending down to levels not seen since the early 1980s, as per Dreier's analysis.
As a result, experts fear nations like China could take the lead in space exploration and leave the US trailing behind.
But, at this stage, the 50% budget cut is just a proposal, not a final decision. Congress will still need to negotiate funding, meanwhile, the Trump administration’s official budget request is expected in the coming weeks.