In order to save the American government’s spending, the president close to the climatosceptic sphere wishes to reduce the budget for satellite missions of NASA dedicated to the study of the land and the climate. Among the targets, the carbon dedicated OCO program. Not only does a disaster for the climate, OCO stopping rising other geopolitical and security risks.
Donald Trump does not want to hear carbon talking. Since arriving at the White House, the American president wishes to reduce public spending which finance all the study programs of the climateclimatein particular the missions whose data is used to document the global warmingglobal warming. Ce stallstall Total with reality is dangerous because American programs are real gold mines, which cannot be deprived. Or, you become blind.
NASA is particularly threatened in its scientific program dedicated to earth and climate sciences. In his budget proposal for 2026, a 52 %cup is planned. Consequently, several future missions will be canceled and others already operational will be stopped. This is the case with the program OCOOCO (Orbital Carbon Observatory). But his judgment would not be a disaster for monitoring the climate. OCO is much more precious than that, including geopolitical level.
End of mission?
The OCO program includes three satellites. The first was unfortunately lost during an orbit missed in 2009. A second, OCO-2, was put in orbit in 2014 to replace it. OCO-3 is a scientific instrument that was sent to space in 2019 to ensure the next generation by being attached to the international space station, hosted by an outdoor platform of the Japanese Kibo module.
©JPL
The two missions are controlled by the JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory). OCO-2 has been in mission extension since 2016 but continues to work well. OCO-3 has the initial lifespan for 10 years and should therefore operate until the ISS is desired. Why then attack missions that work?
OCO’s overall budget is nearly $ 750 million, not to mention the loss of OCO-1. Today, the cost of operating OCO-2 and 3 is around $ 15 million. This includes the workforce for piloting, logistics to ensure the transfer of data to earth, as well as the maintenance of a network of sensorssensors On the ground used for the calibration of instruments. It does little compared to the annual budget of the NasaNasa (24.8 billion dollars in 2025) and even compared to the budget dedicated to earth and climate sciences ($ 2.1 billion in 2024).
CO2, vegetation and anti-science
OCO instruments measure the amount of carbon dioxidecarbon dioxide Around the globe, which had never been done on this scale before. The data is precious because it makes it possible to assess how the CO2 is absorbed by the oceans, the soils, and the forests. But OCO data also reveals how vegetation develops in different regions of the world.
In 2023, a NASA review ruled that OCO data was of exceptional quality and recommended extending the three -year mission. Thus the OCO-2 satellite remains at stake instead of naturally descending to burn in theatmosphereatmosphere. This is what the Trump government will cut off the funds.
The US Congress may well save the missions by deciding to keep their funding, but the Trump government is already advancing its pawns. Under the orders of the White House, NASA is already preparing the end of the mission, scheduled for this 1is october. At the origin of the 2026 budget proposal, the office in charge of the federal budget and its Russian director Vought who, on several occasions, has already criticized the public funding of climate monitoring missions. Vought is one of the authors of the “2025 project” political program by Donald Trump from the Claim Foundation Heritage, in a general anti-science context.
International issues
OCO data on the development of global vegetation is now used as indicators of geopolitical tensions. Indeed, several conflicts are based today only on the conquest of resources. In addition, the impoverishment of the vegetation of certain regions, because of global warming and locally disastrous human activities for the environment, generates major human migrations, which increases security risks.
In its isolationist policy, the government no longer cares too much about these risks internationally, even if the consequences would be the increase in the arrival of immigrants from these regions … to the United States. Thus, even if OCO data allow you to anticipate the conflicts of tomorrow, the Trump government does not care and prefers to destroy the program, for an economy of only $ 15 million per year …
