Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science · The Planetary Society

NASA science saved: Inside the 2026 budget victory

·1 hr 1 min·4 clips

A 2025 White House proposal would have cut NASA science by nearly half, the largest single-year reduction ever proposed.

NASA science is saved, for now. Sarah Al-Ahmed opens on the months of uncertainty, the losses that already happened, and the space community's push to get Congress to restore most NASA science funding. The win is real, but it is not tidy. Jack Corelli and Ari Kopel go through what passed with the caution of people who have spent time staring at budget language. Fiscal year 2026 still has loose ends. The timing of the money matters, and seven hundred million dollars may not all land on the same spending calendar. Depending on how that plays out, NASA's total budget could approach 28 or 29 billion dollars by the end of fiscal year 2026. Ari connects that level to the 1990s, when the International Space Station and the Mars Exploration Program were getting started. The conversation also looks outside Washington. Other countries, including the European Space Agency, answered the crisis by trying to strengthen their own science programs. A roughly 30 percent ESA budget increase lands as more than a number: space science is a public priority signal. The mood is relieved, but nobody is taking a victory lap. The episode gives public pressure its due without pretending the damage disappeared. Exploration needed defenders, and the guests argue that science, discovery, and planetary exploration should be strengthened rather than cut. Bruce Betts closes with What's Up, including the recent return of astronauts from the International Space Station and what is known so far.

As heard by us

A sober, clear look at a budget fight that could have changed NASA science.

Planetary Radio frames NASA science's restored funding as relief earned the hard way, not a moment for celebration. After months of uncertainty, it makes clear that Congress has restored near-full support and turned back cuts that would have ended dozens of missions, while also…

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