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.
The decision has taken many in the scientific community by surprise, says Jack Kiraly, director of government relations at the Planetary Society, a nonprofit that supports space exploration. “This is such a strange decision with no clear rationale. None of it really makes sense,” he says.
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According to the letter, signed by Louise Prockter, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division, funding to support these “Analysis and Assessment Groups” will stop “toward the end of April 2026.”
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. NASA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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.
Independent input from the planetary science community has helped support key NASA missions, including New Horizons, which launched 20 years ago to explore Pluto and the outer edges of our solar system, and the Curiosity and Perseverance Mars rovers, Kiraly says. “Consulting outside experts is critical for the success of the agency,” he adds.
“When [NASA administrator Jared Isaacman] is out there saying, ‘We need to be rapidly iterating and being on the forefront of science and technology,’ you only know that you’re there by consulting the community,” Kiraly says.
Editor’s Note (1/21/26): This story was updated after posting to include additional information. This is a breaking news story and may be updated further.