As part of its efforts to shore up NASA’s flailing Artemis Program, the Trump administration earlier this year proposed two major changes to the agency’s deep space exploration plans.
First, in the president’s budget request for fiscal year 2026, the White House sought to terminate NASA’s costly Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft after the Artemis III mission, the first human landing. And second, to focus on „direct-to-surface“ exploration, the White House sought to cancel the Lunar Gateway, a small space station intended to orbit the Moon.
Essentially, for long-term sustainability, the White House decided it was best to use lower-cost, commercially available rockets and focus NASA’s limited resources on surface activities. For example, the Gateway’s $854 million budget in 2024 would be better spent in future years on a lunar base.