"NASA's Cost-Cutting Revamp of Earth System Observatory"

NASA is restructuring its Earth System Observatory missions to reduce costs, delaying some and relying more on international partners. The agency's fiscal year 2025 budget proposal projects spending about $12.25 billion on Earth science between fiscal years 2025 and 2029, nearly $1.2 billion less than the previous proposal. The strategy includes splitting large missions into smaller ones, making greater use of international partnerships, and opening some missions up to competition. This approach saves money through partnerships and by flying smaller missions when they are ready rather than waiting to complete a larger mission.