PLANETARY EXPLORATION NEWSLETTER
Volume 20, Number 40 (September 28, 2026)

PEN Website: https://planetarynews.org
Editor: Mark V. Sykes
Co-Editors: Matthew R Perry, Alex Morgan
Email: pen_editor@psi.edu
X: @pen2tweets
Bluesky: @planetarynews.bsky.social

o--------------------------SPECIAL EDITION----------------------------o

ALERT: FY2025 NASA PLANETARY RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS FUNDING CUT BY MORE 
THAN 50%

Earlier this month I published "An Investigative Report on the Funding 
of NASA Planetary Research and Analysis Programs, FY2011-FY2025" at:

https://tinyurl.com/yc6xa8t7

This report presented the grim evidence of a fairly flat funding 
profile over the last 15 years for NASA Planetary Research and Analysis 
Programs (R&A),in stark contrast to recommendations by NRC planetary 
decadal surveys and Congress. This does not take into account the loss 
of more than 30% drop in value of that funding due to inflation over 
that period. 

New documents received in response to a Freedom of Information Act 
request show that in FY2025, NASA actually underspent what was 
budgeted for its R&A programs by more than 50% in the aggregate as of 
June 30, 2026. This is now published in a new report, "ALERT: FY2025 
NASA Planetary Research and Analysis Funding Cut by More than 50%" at:

https://tinyurl.com/2twmwa4x

The impact of this is compounded by NASA also forward funding future 
grant years in the year of the award, diminishing the number of awards 
it can make by 2/3 (assuming an average of three-year proposals). This
moves a grim situation to one that is catastrophic in the short term, 
requiring immediate Congressional attention.

NASA planetary science cannot be the only federally funded research 
programs being targetted by this stealth underspending. Congress 
should demand this information, while at the same time not waiting to 
act to staunch the damage. Without such action, I fear American 
science, which has driven our economic advancement for 80 yeaars, will 
not recover.

Efforts to obtain FY2006 information are underway.

Mark V. Sykes
Senior Scientist and Former CEO
Planetary Science Institute

NOTE: All opinions are those of the author and not the Planetary 
Science Institute.


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