NASA is considering scaling back its activities on the International Space Station, according to multiple sources. The changes, which are being considered primarily due to shortfalls in the space station budget, include:

• Reducing the size of the crew complement of Crew Dragon missions from four to three, starting with Crew-12 in February 2026
• Extending the duration of space station missions from six to eight months
• Canceling all upgrades to the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer science instrument attached to the station

The cuts are by no means a certainty. There was some confusion on Wednesday because, although the cuts appear to align with the Trump administration's goals, they were not being considered at the request of Trump space officials or in response to the budget release. Rather, they were made at the programmatic level.

None of these decisions are final, and may reflect the fact that NASA at present is operating under an acting administrator. The decision to fly fewer than a full complement of astronauts is not consistent, for example, with the goals of the Trump White House nominee to lead NASA, Jared Isaacman.