How the federal government shutdown impacts NASA

As of Oct. 1, roughly 15,000 NASA staff are furloughed, and most operations halted aside from the International Space Station, satellites, and the Artemis program.

At 12:01 a.m. on Oct. 1, when the federal authorities shut down on account of a scarcity of appropriations from Congress, NASA started pausing its operations. While the company has protocols for coping with a authorities shutdown that it has turned to earlier than, the present political context introduces new elements, together with the potential for everlasting workers reductions.

NASA will ship roughly 15,000 of its 18,218 civil servants dwelling with out pay so long as the federal government stays closed. According to the NASA Continuity of Appropriations Plan, the company will want a half-day to safe amenities, energy down non-critical techniques, and ship official furlough notices. Only actions that the federal authorities refers to as “excepted” are permitted to proceed. 

The overwhelming majority of the company’s work is suspended. All non-excepted capabilities, together with instructional help, public entry to NASA facilities, and most analysis actions, are halted. Furloughed staff obtain no pay throughout the shutdown interval, however will obtain again pay as soon as the federal government reopens.

Personnel are “excepted” from furlough and permitted to stay on responsibility provided that their work meets the next standards: essential to carry out actions expressly licensed by legislation, essential to carry out actions essentially implied by legislation, or needed to guard the protection of human life or the safety of property. Under these situations, NASA continues to help three main operations: International Space Station (ISS) operations, satellite tv for pc operations, and the event of the Artemis program.

Exceptions for Artemis

The safety of the Artemis Program is the important thing operational distinction from earlier continuity plans. A plan dated August 2023, ready within the case of a shutdown that fall, listed solely ISS and Satellite Operations as main exceptions; the current plan, launched Sept. 29, provides “Artemis Programs Development and Operations (Exploration)” to the listing. The August 2023 plan anticipated 17,007 personnel to be furloughed, whereas the September 29, 2025 plan expects 15,094, rising the variety of furloughed workers from round 1,300 to over 3,100.

Work associated to the upcoming Artemis missions — Artemis 2, the crewed lunar flyby scheduled for as early as February subsequent 12 months, and Artemis 3, the deliberate lunar touchdown mission — will proceed with a purpose to defend the event, manufacturing, and provide chain security of the mission, in accordance with the up to date continuity plan. Exceptions for Artemis align with the Trump administration’s emphasis on human exploration at NASA. Lakiesha Hawkins, performing deputy affiliate administrator, Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, predicted this exception in a Sept. 23 press convention, stating, “We anticipate in this particular case that this is obviously very safety critical; we anticipate being able to request, being able to continue to move forward on Artemis 2 in the event of a shutdown.”

Continued operations

Beyond Artemis, the company’s different main exceptions are on account of security and authorized necessity: ISS operations preserve command and management to guard human life, and satellite tv for pc operations proceed for energetic missions which can be “necessary for safety and protection of life and property,” as outlined within the continuity plan. NASA has not publicly specified which satellites specifically meet these standards.

The lapse has blended impacts on exterior contractors. Facilities just like the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex stay open as a result of they’re managed by non-government entities. However, per the up to date plan, contractors engaged on present, correctly obligated contracts should nonetheless observe sure limitations. They are instructed to “preserve resources” the place attainable and “suspend performance” if their work requires participation from furloughed NASA civil servants (comparable to for inspections or funding actions) or if new funding actions can’t be issued throughout the hiatus.

This monetary uncertainty at JPL extends past the instant shutdown. NASA Watch reported that JPL is continuing with a “Phase Two reorganization and upcoming layoff in October.” This includes potential workforce reductions of 4,000 to five,500, in accordance with NASA Watch, on the facility liable for the company’s deep house robotic missions.

Possible reductions in drive

While shutdowns are comparatively uncommon — that is the primary since 2018 — they’ve change into more and more widespread in latest many years. The most up-to-date shutdown comes at a important second for NASA, the place its future stays unsure. The Fiscal Year 2026 President’s Budget Request (PBR) proposes a 25 p.c minimize to NASA’s total funding, and the administration has threatened mass reductions in drive  (RIFs) — if the federal government had been to close down. If applied, these RIFs would successfully implement the PBR regardless that Congress has expressed its intent to fund NASA absolutely. It’s unclear at this second whether or not the Trump administration plans to enact the RIFs or not. 

The present NASA continuity plan additionally comprises language that seems to present precedence to White House coverage preferences. The plan says that remaining “carryover funds” should be spent solely on “presidential priorities,” and directs the company to “forbear from incurring obligations on research activities that are not policy-aligned with these priorities.” This specific language didn’t seem within the August 2023 continuity plan, and it’s unclear what goal it serves. Experts say it might imply that leftover funds from the earlier fiscal 12 months could possibly be reappropriated away from their authentic goal and towards objects that extra carefully align with the president’s agenda. 

Even earlier than the shutdown took impact, supporters of NASA have been pushing Congress to incorporate extra expansive language in a Continuing Resolution (CR) to defend non-Artemis work on the company from everlasting cuts. The Democratic-sponsored CR that failed a Senate vote included such safety, stating “any mission in operation… or under development or formulation by the Science Mission Directorate… shall be continued.” The Republican CR proposal comprises no particular language to guard NASA science packages.