Trump Administration Pursues Termination of Critical Carbon-Monitoring Satellite Missions Amid Climate Change Concerns

The Trump administration has reportedly instructed NASA to develop termination plans for two major satellite missions, according to current and former NASA employees. If implemented, one of the missions would result in the permanent decommissioning of a satellite set to re-enter the atmosphere.

These missions collect data widely utilized by scientists, oil and gas companies, farmers, and other entities requiring detailed information about carbon dioxide levels and crop health. They are the only federal satellite missions specifically designed and built for monitoring planet-warming greenhouse gases.

The high-tech equipment aboard these satellites is expected to function for several more years, as per scientists who worked on the missions. A 2023 NASA review stated that the data quality was “exceptionally high,” and recommended continuing the mission for at least three years.

Both missions, known as Orbiting Carbon Observatories (OCO), measure carbon dioxide and global plant growth. One device is attached to a standalone satellite while another is attached to the International Space Station. Terminating the standalone satellite would cause it to burn up upon re-entry if the mission were to be terminated.

NASA employees working on these missions are currently drafting Phase F plans for both carbon monitoring missions, as confirmed by David Crisp, a longtime NASA engineer who designed the instruments and managed the missions until his retirement in 2022. Phase F plans outline options for terminating NASA missions.

Crisp has been contacted by NASA employees making these termination plans, seeking his technical expertise. “I have received direct communications from people involved in the planning process, who were not authorized to disclose their tasks,” Crisp stated. “They posed me several detailed questions. The only reason for such queries would be if they had been instructed to develop a termination plan.”

Three other academic scientists using data from these missions have also received related inquiries, while remaining anonymous due to concerns that discussing the termination plans publicly could jeopardize the jobs of the NASA employees who contacted them.

Two current NASA employees confirmed that mission leaders were directed to create termination plans for projects facing funding cuts under President Trump’s proposed budget for FY 2026, starting October 1. The employees requested anonymity due to concerns about potential dismissal for disclosing the request.

The Orbiting Carbon Observatory missions have already received Congressional funding through the end of the 2025 fiscal year (ending September 30th). Draft budgets currently under consideration by Congress for next year maintain NASA’s funding at roughly the same level, although it is unclear if these specific missions will receive additional funding or if a new budget will be passed before current funding expires on September 30.

Last week, NASA announced it would consider proposals from private companies and universities willing to assume the cost of maintaining the device attached to the International Space Station, as well as another device measuring atmospheric ozone levels.

NASA did not respond to questions regarding whether other missions will also be privatized or about the reasons for planning to potentially terminate projects that may receive funding in Congress’s next budget.

In July, Congressional Democrats wrote a letter to acting NASA administrator Sean Duffy warning against terminating missions already funded by Congress, arguing that such actions could severely impair the nation’s ability to forecast, manage, and respond to severe weather and climate disasters.

A spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) stated that they had no involvement in NASA Earth Science leadership’s request for termination plans. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy did not respond to questions regarding this matter.

The missions, initially designed to measure carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, have proven more valuable than intended. Upon launch, scientists discovered that they were also inadvertently measuring plant growth on Earth. This accidental discovery has led to highly valuable global maps of plant photosynthesis, useful for farmers, forest management, and drought monitoring, among other applications.

These carbon dioxide data have significantly advanced scientists’ understanding of the speed at which the gas is accumulating in the atmosphere. Measuring carbon dioxide on various locations across Earth’s surface provides limited information about the planet as a whole, whereas satellite data offers comprehensive coverage. This data has revealed that tropical forests, once believed to act like vacuum cleaners for carbon dioxide, do not behave as expected. Instead, northern boreal forests absorb a substantial amount of the gas, with patterns of absorption continuously evolving as the climate changes.

The value of these observations is increasing over time, according to Anna Michalak, a climate researcher at Carnegie Science and Stanford University who has worked extensively on greenhouse gas monitoring from space. “These are missions that continue to provide critical information,” she explains.

Terminating satellite missions can be costly. Maintaining both OCO satellite missions costs approximately $15 million annually, covering data downloading, ground-based calibration sensor maintenance, and protection against space debris for the standalone satellite. The total cost of designing, building, and launching the two missions is around $750 million, which increases significantly when including the cost of a failed 2009 rocket launch that sent an identical carbon dioxide measuring instrument into the ocean.

“From an economic standpoint, it makes no sense to terminate NASA missions returning such valuable data,” Crisp says.