ISS Astronauts Launch Into Budget-Cut Limbo: Return Date Unknown

When Congress starts slashing budgets, even astronauts floating 250 miles above Earth can’t escape the ax. NASA’s International Space Station program is staring down a $1 billion funding shortfall through 2029, and the crew up there? They’re about to feel it.

Budget cuts reach space: Even astronauts 250 miles up can’t dodge Congress’s ax.

The station’s population is dropping from seven to six. NASA’s cutting their astronaut count from four to three. That’s one less pair of hands to keep the aging station running and conduct research that supposedly justifies its existence. Russia will keep sending three cosmonauts, because of course they will.

Here’s where it gets fun. The White House wants to slash another $500 million from the ISS budget in fiscal year 2026. That’s about a third of what it costs to keep the lights on up there. NASA’s overall budget? Down 24% to $18.8 billion. The Science Mission Directorate is looking at a potential 47% cut. Ouch.

So what’s NASA’s brilliant solution? Make the remaining astronauts work longer shifts. Prioritize only the research that helps the Artemis moon program. Forget about broad scientific discovery – that’s a luxury now. Research output will drop by at least 50%. Support staff at Johnson Space Center and Marshall Space Flight Center? They’re getting halved too. The ISS has been continuously inhabited since November 2000, making this crew reduction a historic shift in over two decades of operations.

The really twisted part is that all these cuts are happening while NASA plans to deorbit the whole station by 2030. They’re banking on commercial space stations to fill the gap, with NASA becoming just another customer. Good luck with that timeline.

Meanwhile, SpaceX’s Dragon remains the only reliable ride for U.S. astronauts. Boeing’s Starliner? Still a question mark after years of delays and budget overruns. The irony is thick enough to cut with a spacecraft.

Former NASA officials are raising alarms, warning about threats to research and missions. Congress still needs to approve these cuts, but the writing’s on the wall. Or rather, on the budget spreadsheet. After 30 years of operations, the ISS has produced only 500 scientific papers, raising questions about whether the science output justifies the investment.

The astronauts currently orbiting Earth are watching their workplace get downsized in real-time. They signed up to advance human knowledge. Instead, they’re getting front-row seats to bureaucratic penny-pinching. Welcome to space exploration, budget-cut edition.