Overview

• The president’s FY26 budget proposal directs NASA to end the OCO-2 satellite and its ISS-mounted OCO-3 instrument, and agency scientists have begun drafting formal shutdown procedures known as Phase F
• If decommissioned, OCO-2 would burn up on reentry and be lost irretrievably, while OCO-3 could be removed from the International Space Station and preserved if funding is restored
• Representative Zoe Lofgren and other lawmakers argue that cutting funds for satellites financed in FY25 would breach Congress’s exclusive authority over federal spending
• Since its deployment in 2014, OCO-2 has delivered high-resolution global carbon dioxide data that underpins climate research, informs the Paris Agreement and tracks photosynthesis for agricultural monitoring
• Having spent roughly $750 million on development and launch and just $15 million annually on maintenance, NASA is exploring private partnerships to sustain OCO-3 beyond federal funding