NASA’s 2025 safety report flags ISS aging systems, Artemis risk, and LEO commercialization challenges
Key Highlights
- Concerns are raised about budget reductions impacting ISS safety, including limited resupply missions, hardware inventories, and workforce reductions, which threaten operational margins.
- Recommendations include clarifying objectives for low Earth orbit commercialization, developing sustainable funding, and ensuring commercial providers have the capacity for long-term operations.
- NASA’s efforts to improve risk management and safety are acknowledged, with leadership praised for their dedication despite organizational turbulence and resource challenges.
WASHINGTON - The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) has urged the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to recalibrate its commercial acquisition strategies and strengthen oversight as the agency transitions from government-owned systems to commercially provided human spaceflight capabilities, according to the panel’s 2025 annual report.
The report, released 25 February 2026, warns that NASA’s most significant challenges stem from interconnected pressures involving workforce attrition, acquisition strategy, technical authority, budget instability, and the growing complexity of human spaceflight. While the panel acknowledged progress in Artemis II readiness and continued safe International Space Station (ISS) operations, it cautioned that commercialization efforts in low Earth orbit and lunar exploration demand more disciplined governance.
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"Independent assessments like this will make NASA better," said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. "The panel’s report underscores areas where we must raise the bar, from how we structure oversight and manage integrated risk to how we declare and learn from anomalies. We are wholly committed to transparency. That’s how we protect crews, earn trust, and keep the Artemis lunar campaign and our transition to a commercial presence in low Earth orbit on a safe, sustainable path."
Commercial transition in low-Earth orbit
A central commercial concern highlighted in the report is NASA’s transition from the International Space Station to commercially owned and operated low-Earth orbit destinations.
The panel said NASA’s current transition strategy remains "aspirational," lacking a clearly defined and executable path to sustain a human presence in low Earth orbit before or immediately after the station’s planned 2030 end of life. While development of the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle is tracking toward a mid-2029 launch, funding adequacy remains uncertain.
The panel said NASA must clearly define objectives for sustained human presence in low Earth orbit, identify its roles and authorities on commercial platforms it will not own or operate, and develop a feasible supporting budget. It also said NASA must ensure that commercial providers have the technical and financial capacity to build, assemble, and operate viable destinations with sufficient non-NASA customers to sustain long-term operations.
At the same time, the report warns that budget reductions have pushed the ISS program close to the limits of safe operations. Fewer resupply missions, reduced spare hardware inventories, workforce reductions, and extended crew rotations are thinning operational margins. The panel stated that resource sufficiency and structural microcracking in the Russian Service Module vestibule represent the most immediate safety concerns.
Acquisition strategy
The report places significant emphasis on NASA’s evolving commercial contracting models, particularly the agency’s use of service-based and firm fixed price structures for the development of human-rated systems.
Four years ago, the panel recommended NASA establish clearer criteria for evaluating "make, manage, or buy" decisions. In the 2025 report, it reiterated concerns that the agency’s transition from traditional government-directed development to commercially oriented partnership models has exposed weaknesses in acquisition strategy, safety assurance, risk management, and program execution.
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The panel examined NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and Human Landing System contracts as case studies. It said the early application of firm fixed price contracts to developmental human spaceflight systems misaligned expectations, blurred roles and responsibilities between NASA and industry, and reduced the agency’s ability to maintain sufficient technical oversight.
In the case of Boeing’s Starliner and SpaceX’s Dragon under the Commercial Crew Program, the panel found that contract structure directly influenced engineering staffing, verification posture, accountability, and transparency. The report states that the use of commercial service clauses applied to developmental end-items complicated oversight and shaped provider incentives in ways that affected safety and risk acceptance.
Isaacman acknowledged the need to recalibrate the acquisition strategy. "That means recalibrating our acquisition strategy, including a build versus buy versus service procurement approach, restoring core competencies through initiatives like converting contractors to civil servant roles and increasing our launch cadence," he said. "We’re also aligning our long-term vision for the agency and industry to guide priorities. This includes clarifying our plans for the Artemis architecture moving forward and accelerating proposals for human landing systems to preserve schedule margin."
Earlier in February, Isaacman presented findings from the Starliner Crewed Flight Test investigation, which NASA classified as a Type A mishap. He said the agency launched corrective actions following the review.
Technical authority
Beyond contracting structures, the panel emphasized the importance of maintaining strong and independent technical authority within NASA as commercialization expands.
The report outlines four foundational principles for technical authority: assured independence from cost and schedule pressure, consistent application of standards across programs, adequate resourcing, and sustained leadership commitment.
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The panel said leadership transitions, workforce attrition, and budget uncertainty raise concerns about NASA’s ability to maintain effective oversight across increasingly complex commercial partnerships.
Retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Susan J. Helms, chair of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, praised NASA’s efforts while underscoring the stakes.
"The panel commends NASA for its impressive efforts in 2025 to strategically enhance the agency’s risk management posture despite turbulence in the agency’s organizational environment," Helms said. "We very sincerely thank NASA’s leaders and workforce for their passionate dedication to space exploration and their unwavering commitment to the safe pursuit of the nation’s lofty aims to the great benefit of the future of humanity."
Congress established the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel in 1968 following the Apollo 1 fire to provide independent advice to the NASA administrator and Congress on safety matters. The 2025 annual report is based on fact-finding, quarterly public meetings, direct observation of agency operations, and discussions with NASA management, employees, and contractors.
The full report is available at nasa.gov/asap.
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Jamie Whitney
Senior Editor
Jamie Whitney joined the staff of Military & Aerospace Electronics in 2018 and oversees editorial content and produces news and features for Military & Aerospace Electronics, attends industry events, produces Webcasts, and oversees print production of Military & Aerospace Electronics.