NASA has canceled or put into question the future of two conferences, the ISS Research and Development Conference and the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC), due to budget pressures.
The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) announced that it is canceling the upcoming ISS Research and Development Conference, which was scheduled for July in Seattle. The conference has been run annually for over a decade and provided a platform for research opportunities on the International Space Station.
NASA’s decision to withdraw its support for the conference comes as part of a broader effort to scale back its use of the ISS due to budget constraints. The agency is considering reducing the crew on the U.S. segment from four astronauts to three, citing “a cumulative multi-year budget reduction” that creates resource challenges.
The proposed 2026 budget also reduces funding for ISS operations by a quarter, with an emphasis on maintaining minimal safe operations and very limited research essential to support Moon and Mars exploration until its retirement in 2030. This could impact the future of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner, which has yet to enter service due to problems during a crewed test flight.
Additionally, NASA is no longer pursuing a partnership for LPSC, an annual conference on planetary science research that has been run jointly with the Lunar and Planetary Institute since its inception. The agency had planned to release a formal solicitation for partnerships in 2025 but appears to be dropping plans altogether. Instead, the LPI will run LPSC next year on its own.
The cancellation of these conferences has raised concerns among planetary scientists, who rely heavily on these events to share research and connect with colleagues. The loss of NASA’s support could leave a significant funding shortfall for future community-led meetings, which would require organizers to find alternative sources of funding.
Source: https://spacenews.com/nasa-withdraws-support-for-conferences