NASA’s budget battle took another turn this week as the US House and Senate Appropriations Committees released text rejecting proposed cuts to the space agency.
The “joint explanatory statement” [PDF] is a little light on detail, but restores most of NASA’s science budget. The FY2026 Request was $3.9 billion, down from the FY2025 Enacted figure of $7.33 billion, which was described as “an extinction-level event” for science by some observers.
The Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act has brought the amount back to $7.25 billion, doubtless to the relief of NASA and its new Administrator, Jared Isaacman. While this still represents a cut from previous levels, and inflation will further reduce its purchasing power, the reduction is far less severe than initially proposed.
There is, however, a slight reduction in Exploration budget, for which $8.31 billion was requested, and $7.78 billion was allocated under the agreement. That said, the Trump administration’s desire to kill off the Space Launch System in favor of commercial options has been muted.
The document states: “The agreement rejects the proposed termination of the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion programs following Artemis III.” It also prohibits raiding funds from the Artemis Moon to Mars Transportation account “unless and until a commercial alternative is demonstrated to meet or exceed the capabilities of the SLS and Orion systems.”
The agreement between the US House and Senate Committees still needs to pass the whole House and Senate, meaning that the uncertainty surrounding NASA’s budget is not over.
Also not mentioned in the agreement is the fate or identity of the “space vehicle” to be transferred to Houston. Widely expected to be Space Shuttle Discovery, which is housed at the Smithsonian’s Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia, the move has proved controversial. As 2025 drew to a close, US Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) stated that Isaacman had “committed to follow Sen. Cornyn’s provision of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act [OBBA], now law, to move the Space Shuttle Discovery in one piece from Virginia.”
The OBBA does not mention Discovery by name. Instead, it calls for a space vehicle that “has flown into space” and “has carried astronauts.”
In a recent interview, Isaacman did not confirm that Discovery had been selected for the move. Instead, he cautioned that the relocation would have to be within budget and ensure “the safety of the vehicle.”
He said: “And if we can’t do that, you know what? We’ve got spacecraft that are going around the Moon with Artemis II, III, IV, and V. One way or another, we’re going to make sure the Johnson Space Center gets their historic spacecraft right where it belongs.” ®