NASA is quietly ending financial support for independent planetary science advisory groups, according to a letter posted to the agency’s website on January 16.
The affected groups have historically offered feedback to the space agency on science efforts ranging from the exploration of Mars and ocean worlds to the storage of extraterrestrial samples, and more.
According to the letter, signed by Louise Prockter, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division, funding to support these “Analysis and Assessment Groups” will end “toward the end of April 2026.”
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The letter cites “several recent changes in the NASA landscape,” including U.S. president Donald Trump’s executive orders and a “highly constrained” budget, as reasons for no longer supporting the groups.
At the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Sciences meeting on Tuesday, Prockter stressed that the groups won’t necessarily be eliminated by the decision but that they will lose funding, SpaceNews reported. “We are simply not able to support them for a number of reasons,” she said.
Editor’s Note (1/21/26): This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
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