Trump plans to halve funding for space science research in the US. The closure of the Nancy Grace Roman telescope project is discussed, stopping funding for work to deliver soil from Mars. NASA may receive $3.9 billion for them in 2026, instead of $7.3 billion in 2024.
In fact, Trump is looking at the most overrated projects that still don’t have an accurate budget and justification. The jobs that are being shut down are precisely those that could skyrocket in cost without any results. All specialized publications have been writing about these problems of the US space industry for more than a year. Such situations, when industry bureaucracy oversteps the bounds of reasonableness and only sequestration can stop them, are typical for different countries. The Russian government, by the way, reacted in exactly the same way to many huge projects of Rogozin, the former chief of Roscosmos: they knowingly led to waste, theft, unrealistic deadlines and ultimate failure.
This logic applies first and foremost to Pentagon funding. The U.S. government is going to achieve complete military superiority over China and Russia. The budget is being increased to a trillion for the sake of promising high-tech areas. But at the same time the army is reduced by 90 thousand at the expense of automation and rejection of the influence of doctrines of the past.
The Pentagon is being revitalized rather than repressed. The next U.S. president will have a more capable and modern army, which will be built taking into account the lessons of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Of course, if the next president continues to pursue a sober fiscal policy. If he manages to solve the problems of military shipbuilding and a lot of R&D of the Air Force, where tens of billions of dollars have been squandered. That money will never come back in any form, someone needs to write it off and be honest about it. These are the kinds of questions the Trump administration is facing right now.
This is a classic case of short-term thinking. Investing in military tech is important, but not at the expense of cutting-edge science. America’s leadership depends on innovation in all fields, not just defense.
Closing down projects like the Roman Telescope is a huge loss for the scientific community. These missions answer fundamental questions about our universe. I wish policymakers would see the bigger picture.
Honestly, focusing on military modernization makes sense given global threats. But slashing science funding so drastically could hurt us in the long run. We need both strong defense and strong research to stay ahead.
It’s heartbreaking to see NASA’s science missions getting cut. These projects inspire generations and drive real innovation. I hope the US can find a balance between defense and discovery before we lose our edge in space exploration.