Trump Orders NASA to Destroy Two Satellites Monitoring Climate Change — and Scientists Aren't Happy

About 400 miles away from us, a robot hovering over the blue-green ball of Earth keeps an eye on everything from the smoke released by our cars to the plastic cups and bags we dump in the landfills. Flanked by two battery-powered solar wings, this robot, a.k.a. Orbital Carbon Observatory (OCO), helps scientists on Earth monitor air quality by sending data about the current carbon content in the planetary air. However, while announcing the 2026 budget recently, President Donald Trump’s administration dropped a bombshell on the entire space exploration community by instructing NASA to terminate and destroy two OCO satellites.

Trump drops a bombshell

“The Trump administration is considering terminating two NASA satellite missions that measure carbon dioxide. That's according to current and former NASA employees,” reported Michel Martin from NPR. Given that these satellites, named OCO-2 and OCO-3, were one of the most decorated instruments for scientists to monitor the carbon footprint of the planet, the announcement exploded like a bolt from the blue. Most experts responded with a backlash.

Eyes of the Earth

With a fleet of antennas shooting out of its frame, magnetometers, Attitude Control, remote sensors, and sun detectors, the satellite, OCS, has been sending information to the scientists since 2009.  Both these free-flying satellites were launched in 2014. In 2019, sophisticated instruments designed by NASA engineers were latched to the International Space Station (ISS) laboratory, many of which were based on the technologies used in the Hubble Space Telescope. Their installation was intended to snap a fingerprint-like code that would help scientists know the patterns of CO2 in the atmosphere and how it impacts plant growth. 

The instrument features a spectrometer that scans the columns of Earth’s atmosphere and measures the intensity of sunlight reflected from the presence of carbon dioxide lingering in it. A spectrum of different greenhouse gases helps scientists understand the atmospheric conditions like an extensive map. OCS also provides data related to carbon dioxide’s fluctuations and patterns, including the “sources” that release it and the “sinks” where it is absorbed.

Most sensitive carbon footprint trackers 

Over the past decade, OCS has generously transmitted data related to various hotspots on planet Earth that enabled scientists to track the composition of carbon dioxide plumes in the breeze. This includes data from the Amazon rainforest that informed the scientists that it emits more carbon dioxide than it absorbs. These satellites also act like intelligence agents, spying on everything from the “glow” of photosynthesis to droughts, food shortages, civil unrest, and famines. All this data is invaluable, not just for scientists, but also for policymakers, farmers, oil industry experts, and NGO groups.

Scientists respond with backlash 

Trump’s announcement to shut down these potent carbon-tracking instruments drew fire in the scientific community. When Trump announced the budget for the fiscal year 2026, it included no money slot for these OCS satellites, a decision which many experts counterblasted with arguments. David Crisp, a retired NASA scientist who led the development of these satellites, rebuked the White House’s decision and shared with PBS that OCS is the “national asset” that should be preserved. It is not just sophisticated, but also more sensitive and accurate than any other system in the world, he said. 

Jonathan Overpeck, a climate scientist, also reprimanded the decision by saying that it was “extremely shortsighted.” According to him, the observations gathered by these celestial observers had proved to be critical for managing the climate change crisis, especially in the US. And although Crisp and other scientists are working on a coalition, there is a slim chance that these distant friends would continue working in this field. And as they are being terminated, there would be no one left to spy on this environment-wrecking culprit called carbon dioxide.

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