View of an artist of the Carbon Observatory orbiting, launched in 2009 to map the sources and wells of carbon dioxide global, the main greenhouse gas of human origin. © NASA/JPL.
Two NASA space observatories, specializing in CO₂ surveillance, are in the viewfinder of the Trump administration. According to scientists and employees of the agency, the order is clear: preparing an end-of-mission plan for orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) and its OCO-3 twin, set at the International Space Station. Instruments that NASA itself considered, in 2023, “Exceptional quality”.
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The White House wants to force the destruction of two NASA key satellites
The OCOs are much more than simple climatic sensors: these are the only two federal missions designed specifically to follow the greenhouse gases responsible for warming. And, by happy scientific coincidence, they also measure photosynthesis and growth of plants worldwide. Result: unpublished cards, used by researchers, USDA, agricultural businesses, but also to anticipate food crises and … geopolitical tensions. As David Crisp sums it up, designer of instruments: “It’s a question of national security”.
The official objective of these satellites: map the distribution of CO₂ on the planet and analyze their effects on ecosystems, weather and cultures. Strategic work to anticipate climate change. Their cost? $ 750 million to design and launch them, and only 15 million per year to maintain them, a tiny fraction of the agency’s 25.4 billion budget.
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This has no economic sense to put an end to missions that report such precious data.
In 2019, the robotic arm of the international space station captured a ship carrying OCO -3, one of the two orbit carbon observatories. This NASA instrument provides essential data on the CO₂, which is today threatened by budget cuts. © on TV / NASA
For David Crisp, former manager of OCO instruments, political motivation is transparent: “It has no economic sense of putting an end to missions that report such precious data.” Several scientists interviewed believe that this abolition is more of an ideological posture than a budgetary necessity, Donald Trump having always displayed his skepticism towards climate change. The option studied by NASA for OCO -3? Have its maintenance financed by universities or private companies. An idea that worries researchers, for whom the observation of the land should not depend on the vagaries.
The congress denounces cuts deemed “devastating”
Controversy is not limited to the scientific field: some elected officials denounce a direct attack on legality. The representative Zoe Lofgren talks about a decision “catastrophic” Who “Could break the law” By bypassing the appropriations already voted for 2025. The Senate, for its part, has already proposed a counterbudget now funding and rejecting cuts deemed “Devastators”.
Eliminating terrestrial observation satellites would be catastrophic and would seriously harm our ability to anticipate climatic disasters.
If the presidential orders materialize, OCO -2 would be disoriented and destroyed in the atmosphere. Beyond this loss, it would also be an admission: the United States, formerly leaders of space climate science, would knowingly choose to abandon part of their gaze on the planet.
Beyond these two missions, the very future of American climatic research is at stake. If the White House persists, it could not only deprive the global scientific community of irreplaceable tools, but also permanently weakening the position of the United States as a leader in land observation.
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