Civil Space Spending Reached $42.6 Billion in FY2026, With NASA Just Over Half

Government spending on civil space activities totaled $42.6 billion in fiscal year 2026, spread across 19 non-defense agencies rather than concentrated in NASA alone. A new report from The Aerospace Corporation details that figure, compares it to FY2025, and weighs the still-pending FY2027 request, characterizing the civil space budget as going through tumultuous times.

The report, authored by Aerospace's Lindsay DeMarchi, found that while NASA remains the largest single share of civil space spending, it accounts for only 55 percent of the total. The Department of Energy ranks second at 18 percent, with other agencies ranging from the Department of Homeland Security at 6.79 percent down to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration at 0.05 percent. DeMarchi scoured all non-defense agencies to identify those allocated money to support, enable, or leverage space through direct and indirect means.

The report organizes these agencies into seven national priority categories: American Leadership and Manufacturing, Fundamental Science, Infrastructure, Energy and Resiliency, Remote Sensing Applications, Homeland Security, Streamlining and Expansion, and Workforce Development. Comparing FY2025 and FY2026, where funding is finalized, DeMarchi concludes the budget for space across civil government is experiencing a period of significant uncertainty.

FY2026 encompassed the longest government shutdown in history, yet Congress ultimately appropriated much more than the President's Budget Request and added billions more in a separate reconciliation bill, the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, also called the Working Families Tax Cut Act. Despite that, the $42.6 billion in civil space appropriations last year was down $1.6 billion from FY2025. The Infrastructure, Energy and Resiliency category absorbed the largest reduction, down 29 percent from FY2025 by DeMarchi's calculations.

For FY2027, the President's Budget Request again calls for deep cuts to civil space, but the outcome remains in limbo as the government operates on a Continuing Resolution through December 11. All seven national priority areas face substantial cuts in the request compared to FY2026. Workforce Development tops the list with a proposed reduction of $470 million, or 52 percent, including all $143 million from NASA's STEM Engagement program and $16.4 million each in two Department of Education programs.

The report frames the current moment as one in which the White House and Congress are out of sync, leaving the FY2027 outcome uncertain. DeMarchi provides a link to an Excel spreadsheet detailing her calculations, and her report from last year is also available.

With the midterm elections looming, all 12 FY2027 appropriations bills have cleared the House Appropriations Committee and appear poised to reject many of the Administration's cuts again. However, only three of those bills have passed the full House: Agriculture, Military Construction-Veterans Affairs, and National Security-State. The Senate Appropriations Committee has not finalized any of the bills, and the Continuing Resolution runs through December 11.