By the end of today, NASA’s workforce will be approximately 10 per cent smaller, marking a significant reduction in the agency’s staffing levels under the second Trump administration. This cutback affects NASA’s headquarters and its 10 field centers spread across the United States, potentially impacting the agency’s operations and future projects.

Prior to these reductions, NASA employed nearly 18,000 civil servants, making it one of the most prominent federal agencies in the U.S. space sector. However, within the first four weeks of the Trump administration’s second term, the workforce has shrunk significantly due to a combination of voluntary and involuntary departures.

A major contributing factor to the reduction is NASA’s “fork in the road” offer, which allowed employees to opt for deferred resignation later this year. Approximately 750 employees accepted this offer, a number that, while seemingly substantial, aligns closely with the agency’s natural attrition rate of about 1,000 employees per year. Many of those who accepted the offer may have already been planning to leave and are now receiving additional financial incentives to do so.

However, a more immediate and impactful factor in the workforce decline is the termination of probationary employees. Following a broader federal employment policy, the Trump administration has targeted federal workers still within their probationary period. This category includes new hires from the past one or two years, as well as long-time employees recently promoted or reassigned to new roles. At NASA, around 1,000 or more employees fell into this category and were let go as part of the White House’s workforce reduction strategy.

With both deferred resignations and probationary cuts combined, the total number of employees lost stands at roughly 1,750—about 10 percent of the agency’s workforce. These cuts raise concerns about the long-term impact on NASA’s ongoing and future missions, including the Artemis program, international collaborations, and deep-space exploration projects.

While NASA has weathered staffing reductions in the past, the current cuts highlight the broader challenges facing federal agencies under the Trump administration’s policies. With the possibility of further reductions looming, the world’s leading space agency may have to reassess its priorities and resources to continue pushing the boundaries of space exploration.

The full extent of the impact remains to be seen, but as NASA moves forward with a leaner workforce, its ability to maintain innovation, research, and interagency collaborations will be closely watched by the scientific community and space enthusiasts alike.