NASA’s Voyager project could be facing a 26 percent budget cut while the plug is pulled on other programs, according to insiders familiar with the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The mission currently costs approximately $5 million per year, although an exact figure is difficult to ascertain, not least because the US space agency has been affected by the federal shutdown.
One source that asked to remain anonymous told The Register: “We’re a bit annoyed that Voyager has lost 26 percent of its budget… It’s so bloody small… The whole thing is absolutely outrageous.”
The probes, launched almost 50 years ago on a grand tour of the solar system, are on a trajectory that will take them far beyond the Sun’s influence. Both are still collecting scientific data and have faced technical challenges in recent years. Voyager 1 began spouting gibberish due to faulty hardware, which engineers on Earth bypassed. And Voyager 2 temporarily gave Earth the silent treatment after its antenna was accidentally pointed in the wrong direction.
The budget has yet to be finalized, and disputes over funding for services into October and beyond have led to a US government shutdown.
The shutdown and budget worries are affecting other NASA missions. Juno, which was launched in 2011 to study Jupiter, reached the end of a expedition extension on September 30. However, even though the spacecraft remains in relatively good health despite the nine years it has spent in the harsh environment around Jupiter, its future is now in doubt.
According to the mission’s website, Juno was supposed to continue its investigation “through September 2025, or until the spacecraft’s end of life.” NASA’s silence on the matter has led to concern that the probe might now be deactivated, although a carrier signal was reportedly received earlier this week.
The Register contacted NASA regarding Voyager’s budget and the status of Juno to be told: “Due to a lapse in government funding (JPL is federally funded, and we run media requests through NASA Headquarters), we are currently unable to help with your request.”
“Everything is in a state of absolute chaos,” one source told us. JPL has already suffered multiple rounds of job cuts, and if the budget proceeds as proposed, it could face the loss of hundreds or even thousands of employees as managers deal with the consequences of reduced funding.
“The general feeling is one of doom and gloom, and I think it’s a tsunami of stupidity which is going to roll through the United States’ high technology industry.” ®
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