NASA was already considering reducing crew size on the International Space Station (ISS) before cuts to the agency’s budget were proposed.
Dana Weigel, manager of the ISS program at NASA, told reporters at an Axiom Space Ax-4 press conference that the station had been dealing with a “cumulative multi-year budget reduction, including the FY25 continuing resolutions.”
Axiom Space Ax-4 is a private mission to the ISS, commanded by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson. The crew includes ESA astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland, India’s Shubhanshu Shukla, and Hungary’s Tibor Kapu.
Less money means fewer cargo missions, which means less cargo. Weigel said: “So less cargo – that means less ability to send up supplies for things like food. These levels and the challenge I’m looking at today align with supporting three crew … so we’re evaluating the potential for moving to three crew.”
Thus, even without the sweeping cuts proposed, NASA was already thinking about downsizing the ISS crew. The agency may have to go even further should the budget reduction be passed. Weigel said NASA would need to consider the full budget request before making changes or adjustments.
Any reduction would affect the US segment of the ISS, which includes astronauts from the European and Japanese space agencies.
The admission comes after a rough few months for NASA regarding the status of supplies onboard the ISS. The agency lost a cargo mission earlier this year after a Cygnus freighter was declared unfit to fly following an incident during shipping. This resulted in some hasty shuffling of payloads on the SpaceX CRS-32 mission and the need to conserve supplies was one reason for the shortened handover between Crew-9 and Crew-10.
A possible reduction in cargo missions would exacerbate the problem, hence NASA’s consideration of reducing the crew complement on the US side to three. It is unclear what impact such a reduction would have on private astronaut missions after Ax-4. The agency is seeking proposals for two new private astronaut missions to the ISS, targeted for 2026 and 2027.
However, as fans of the agency’s VIPER lunar rover will attest, NASA has shown willingness to cancel missions when necessary.
The potential NASA cuts will be weighing heavily on the minds of ISS managers and engineers. A reduction of more than half a billion dollars has been proposed, with a suggestion that the crew should be reduced and research focused on “efforts critical to the Moon and Mars exploration programs.” ®