"Space superiority" and slashing NASA's budget

A new executive order to put nukes in space comes up against a mixed message on funding levels for NASA.

A recent NASA mission, Artemis II, sent astronauts farther into space than ever in history as they looped around the moon before returning home with new insight into geological features of the moon. While the Artemis program began in 2022, Trump’s December Executive Order Ensuring American Space Superiority called for an increase in the frequency of these types of missions with the goal of landing on the moon again by 2028, and more.

Artemis III is projected to take place in 2027 and will test docking capabilities between NASA Orion spacecraft and commercial landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin. Artemis IV would follow in 2028 to test the transfer of astronauts onto commercial landers and the first moon landing since 1972. Artemis V is projected for late 2028 to land astronauts on the moon where NASA will begin building a base.

The Executive Order emphasizes a focus on national security infrastructure such as threat detection and countering including missile defense technologies and installation of nuclear weapons in space, a commercial space economy including the private sector replacement of the International Space Station (ISS) by 2030 and placement of nuclear reactors on the moon, and U.S. leadership in the management of space traffic and defense systems, technology development, and lunar infrastructure.

The Outer Space Treaty, signed by the U.S. in 1967 prohibits the installation of nuclear weapons in orbit or on the moon, as well as the installation or testing of weapons and conduction of military maneuvers.

At the same time, Trump’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2027 aims to cut NASA’s budget by nearly 25% ($5.6 billion), dashing more than 40 space programs and NASA initiatives such as the replacement of the ISS. But the President’s budget proposal to Congress is one of many factors Congress considers when appropriating funds to federal agencies.

Recently confirmed NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman supports the cuts, noting that Trump’s so-called One Big Beautiful Bill last year earmarked $10 billion for human spaceflight exploration — a mixed message. The Planetary Society, a non-profit organization involved in political space advocacy, called the cuts an existential threat, “adding needless uncertainty and disruption to NASA’s workforce.”