The Blubber

NASA’s acting administrator, Janet Petro, said Wednesday that Elon Musk’s government efficiency panel would review the space agency’s spending and revealed that hundreds of employees had taken a government buyout offer.

“We’re going to have DOGE come in. They’ll look—similar to what they’ve done at other agencies—at our payments and outgoing funds,” Petro told reporters at a space industry conference in Washington. Petro, previously the head of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, confirmed that the buyout proposal under the Trump administration had been accepted by "hundreds" of NASA employees.

The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, led by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, has shaken up federal agencies in recent weeks by accessing government payment and personnel systems to reduce what the panel views as excessive federal spending.

SpaceX currently holds around $15 billion in contracts with NASA, primarily for missions involving astronaut transportation to the International Space Station and the development of the Starship vehicle for the Artemis program’s moon landings.

When asked whether Musk’s role in DOGE presents a conflict of interest given SpaceX’s extensive NASA contracts, Petro said, “We have very strict conflict of interest policies.” She emphasized that NASA’s legal office would review any DOGE member for potential conflicts.

A small group of Trump administration officials has already begun assessing NASA’s $24 billion budget, focusing on its science and space exploration programs. Meanwhile, Petro is responsible for implementing Trump’s executive orders aimed at dismantling government diversity initiatives.

"All the officials are working hard to make sense of the executive orders as they keep coming at us," Petro said.

NASA’s moon program, including the costly Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, is now under scrutiny. DOGE sees SLS as a potential target for budget cuts. However, the rocket’s large workforce—primarily located in Republican-majority states—complicates any attempts to reduce funding.

Musk and Trump have also fueled speculation about shifting NASA’s focus from returning to the moon to more ambitious missions to Mars, adding further uncertainty to the agency’s future plans.