| By Mike Gruss
For months before the official budget release, rumors swirled about the White House's plans for NASA.
There was talk of significant cuts. And then a skinny budget went on to confirm some of those plans. And then there was, as expected, pushback. The question became if Congress would go along with such cuts.
The answer, at least so far, appears to be no.
A Senate spending bill would restore funding for dozens of NASA science missions threatened with cancellation in the White House's 2026 budget.
Here's more from Jeff Foust on how Senate appropriators envision the funding:
That bill included $24.9 billion for NASA, slightly more than the $24.838 billion that the agency received in 2025 and far more than the $18.8 billion proposed by the White House in May.
The bill includes $7.3 billion for NASA science programs, approximately the same that the agency received in 2025. The White House proposal, by contrast, requested just $3.9 billion for science programs.
"The Committee rejects the mission terminations proposed in the fiscal year 2026 budget request for Earth Science, Planetary Science, Astrophysics, and Heliophysics," the report stated. "The Committee is concerned by the plan to end 55 missions across Science, which was driven by budget pressure rather than scientific value."
Among the high-profile science missions whose funding was in jeopardy but which are funded in the Senate report, include the Mars Odyssey and MAVEN orbiters at Mars, the Juno mission orbiting Jupiter, the New Horizons mission in the Kuiper Belt, the Landsat Next Earth science mission in development and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory.
One other budget item. On the House side, top Democrats on the House Science Committee are accusing NASA leadership of impounding funds and taking steps to implement the budget proposal before Congress can act on it.
| | | | | | | SIGNIFICANT DIGIT
| | | | That's the total cost of the long-delayed Next Generation Operational Control System. The U.S. Space Force announced it accepted delivery of the initial version of the program, which is a key milestone for upgrading GPS infrastructure. The program was initially awarded to the company formerly known as Raytheon, now RTX, in 2010 and was eight years behind schedule. | | | | | | | NEW GIGS
| | Sean Duffy had his first day as the interim administrator at NASA. Duffy is also the secretary of transportation. Janet Petro had served as acting administrator while the agency waited for a permanent replacement.
Makenzie Lystrup, the head of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, will step down as director of Goddard effective Aug. 1. She will be replaced on an acting basis by Cynthia Simmons, Goddard's deputy center director.
The Senate confirmed Space Force Gen. Michael Guetlein to lead the President's Golden Dome initiative. Guetlein was previously the vice chief of space operations. Lt. Gen. Shawn Bratton has been nominated for Guetlein's previous position.
| | BROADBAND AND GEOPOLITICS
| | Here's an anecdote that took me by surprise: To understand what's happening in the LEO broadband market, consider Brazil.
The country's government signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China's SpaceSail (Qianfan constellation) as early as November 2024, covering satellite communications, 5G, digital infrastructure and broadband access. Brazil's partnership with SpaceSail offers potentially cost-competitive broadband infrastructure, especially in remote and underserved regions.
At the same time, SpaceX's Starlink already operates in Brazil. Starlink's existing network and aggressive deployment cadence offer immediate and proven connectivity solutions.
The choice between the two, Jason Rainbow writes, is one that governments and militaries around the world may soon face as Qianfan satellite deployments get underway:
What's emerging, analysts say, is a battleground where governments, militaries and critical industries face a choice between a handful of megaconstellations such as Starlink and Qianfan, or a smaller cohort of less dominant players. And while performance metrics like speed, latency and cost still matter, the more decisive factor may be political alignment and the values that come bundled with it. | | | | | | | | | A new report suggests that space nuclear power systems need to get out of "R&D purgatory."
| | | | The Space Force's unfunded priority list for Congress is always a good read. This year's list includes more than $4 billion to fund a proliferated low Earth orbit constellation known as MILNET.
| | | | | Since closing its acquisition of Intelsat, SES now has a fleet of roughly 90 satellites in geostationary orbit, about one-third more than competitors Eutelsat, Viasat and Telesat combined.
| | | | How the Space Force's $40B budget for next year could end up feeling like a cut.
| | | | | | | FROM SPACENEWS |  | | Fact or fiction on the future of the space economy: Drawing from their new book Space to Grow, authors Matthew Weinzierl (Harvard Business School) and Brendan Rosseau (Blue Origin) discuss how market dynamics, shifting public-sector priorities, and defense investments are driving a new era of space activity. Whether you're a policymaker, investor, operator, or observer, this Space Minds episode captures the critical questions facing the future of space enterprise. | | | | | Sign up for our other newsletters -
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