WASHINGTON — NASA is terminating $420 million in contracts the agency says are redundant or “misaligned” with its core priorities, but has provided few details about what is being cut.
In a statement to SpaceNews late March 24, NASA press secretary Bethany Stevens confirmed a post by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that NASA had terminated about $420 million in “unneeded” contracts.
“NASA is committed to optimizing its workforce and resources in alignment with the Department of Government Efficiency’s initiatives. As part of this effort, NASA has identified and phased out $420 million in contracts that were determined to be redundant or misaligned with our core mission priorities,” Stevens said in the statement.
“This streamlining effort ensures that taxpayer dollars are directed toward the highest-impact projects while maintaining NASA’s essential functions at the highest level of execution,” she continued. “In total, we are aiming for these measures to result in considerably more savings for the American people, reinforcing our commitment to efficiency, innovation, and continued leadership in space exploration.”
NASA did not answer questions about specific contracts selected for termination or details about how it determined those contracts were redundant or misaligned. The DOGE post, published just before midnight March 21, said only that it included three contracts worth $15 million each to consultancies for “Change Management Support Services.”
NASA awarded several blanket purchase agreements in early 2024 to consulting firms to provide support services for agency leadership, with a maximum, but not guaranteed, value of $15 million each over five years. According to federal procurement databases, NASA issued “termination for convenience” notices to four of the companies — Booz Allen Hamilton, Deloitte, Guidehouse, and McKinsey & Co. — in mid-March. None of the companies had been funded for any work under those agreements at the time NASA issued the termination notices.
DOGE has stated it will maintain a list of savings from canceled contracts, grants and real estate leases, but has been slow to do so. The website is updated only weekly, with the last update March 19. In February, the DOGE website stated it would provide updates twice weekly.
The site currently lists 17 NASA contract terminations, whose total value is $44.5 million. However, the actual savings is significantly less: $26.1 million, with only four of the contracts offering any savings. The rest, with savings of $0 listed, suggest they are contracts whose total value has already been paid.
Both the total value and savings of the terminated NASA contracts is dominated by a single entry, a contract worth nearly $30 million for the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC), which examines the “human dimensions of global change needed for Earth science research.” According to DOGE, canceling that contract saved $19.4 million.
There is concern in the scientific community that many of the new savings being announced by NASA may come in the form of grant terminations. There are anecdotal accounts of research awards being revoked, but the reasons for doing so, and whether they are linked to this announcement, are unclear.
The announcement adds to uncertainty about the agency and its workforce since the start of the Trump administration. That has included closing three offices at NASA Headquarters and laying off 23 employees, with plans in progress for larger-scale layoffs that could revamping headquarters. There are rumors that the administration, in its upcoming fiscal year 2026 budget request, will seek significant reductions in NASA science programs that could approach 50% of its current budget.
That alarm extends to Capitol Hill. “What I want to focus on is, in the near term, preventing harm to NASA’s institutions,” said Rep. George Whitesides (D-Calif.), vice-ranking member of the House Science Committee and a former NASA chief of staff, during a Planetary Society event here March 24.
“All this brouhaha about cuts, about moving NASA’s headquarters, I mean, all this is distraction and, ultimately, potentially damage to what is one of the most noble pursuits of humankind, which is the exploration of space,” he said.
