James Webb, Hubble space telescopes face reduction in operations

Summary

The James Webb Space Telescope is pictured here before being folded up for launch. Credit: NASA The teams operating the Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) — NASA’s two most in-demand observatories and among its most scientifically productive missions — are preparing to reduce operations due to funding shortfalls, officials said last week at the summer meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in Anchorage, Alaska. The comments came at a June 10 town hall held by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), which is based in Baltimore, Maryland, and operates JWST and Hubble for NASA. Speaking at the town hall, Neill Reid, multi-mission project scientist at STScI, said the institute is looking at a likely reduction of around 25 to 35 percent in science operations for JWST. The institute is also likely to reduce or drop support for several of Hubble’s instruments; they will still be available for observations, but the telescope’s staff will no longer be able to support them with regular calibration updates. The threats to JWST and Hubble are due to a combination of factors, some of which have been brewing for years. Over the past year, NASA and STScI officials have warned of budgetary challenges and operational reductions due to flat budgets and inflation. Another factor is funding cuts to both telescopes contained in the Trump administration’s budget proposal for 2026 — especially JWST, which would see its operating budget cut by 25 percent relative to planned 2024 operations, from $187 million to $140 million. The cut to Hubble — down from $93.3 million in planned funds for 2024 to $85 million in 2026 — is less of a surprise. The Biden administration’s 2025 budget request, which was never enacted, also contained a planned reduction in Hubble funding, down to $87.5 million in 2026. In 2024, NASA conducted a review of Hubble’s operations, seeking to reduce costs. A document posted to NASA’s website May 30 says the Trump administrati...