In anticipation of the ISS decommissioning and deorbit planned for the end of this decade, NASA has made a sweeping round of layoffs targeting staff working on programs related to the space station at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL.
Rep. Robert Aderholt’s (R-AL) office confirmed to WHNT that a few dozen layoffs were made on Friday. The layoffs targeted contract employees that were working on ISS-related projects.
The bigger picture: It’s out with the old, in with the new.
The Trump administration’s priorities for NASA involve narrowing its focus on mainly Moon and Mars exploration—which means ISS missions and research would take lower priority. The administration’s fiscal 2026 budget request for the space agency would cut back on crew size and operations aboard the station, including only working on research that would benefit the Moon to Mars effort.
Marshall Space Flight Center’s former director, Joseph Pelfrey, stepped down from his position at the end of September. In an email to staff upon leaving, Pelfrey wrote that “it will also be important for agency leadership to move forward with a team they choose to execute the tasks at hand.” His deputy director, Rae Ann Meyer, is now serving as acting director for the center.
Money on the table: More broadly, funding for NASA programs is still uncertain amid the government shutdown—which just passed a one-month anniversary—and the accompanying lack of a budget bill.
The budget woes and uncertainty stretch across the whole agency. A September report by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation found that the White House Office of Management and Budget has been directing NASA to make cuts to programs outlined in the proposed 2026 budget before its passage “in clear violation of the Constitution and without regard for the impacts on NASA’s science missions and workforce.”
