NASA re-classified as a spy agency

Why did NASA (Never a Straight Answer) choose a snake's forked tongue for its logo?

NASA, the spy agency?

You want another arms race? Space race? - Both.

(POLITICO) Today [Sept. 26, 2025] we’re unpacking the space agency’s new classification as a national security organization, Lockheed’s plans in space, and more drama over the Discovery space shuttle’s future.

What do readers make of NASA’s rebrand? Send thoughts to adecker@politico.com, on X at @audrey_decker9, and Signal adecker.59. It’s Week 2 with new host, and I’m accepting any book recommendations on the history of NASA.

• THE EXECUTIVE ORDER: Further exclusions from the Federal Labor-Management Relations Program (The White House)

(JRE Clips) Joe Rogan on NASA now being declared a U.S. spy Agency

The Spotlight

NASA's Secret Relationships w/ DoD and CIA

The public has long viewed NASA as the better angel of America’s values, a peaceful institution dedicated to the exploration of the heavens. Not anymore.

The [Trump] White House in August quietly rebranded NASA as an intelligence and national security organization, a striking action that ties the space exploration agency closer to the defense [a euphemism for military-industrial complex] world.

 

While NASA’s basic functions are unlikely to change, the messaging shift could have cascading effects on how it interacts domestically and with U.S. allies.

Soft power: NASA operates a bit like a shadow diplomat [deceiving interlocutors]. While not explicitly aligned with the Pentagon or U.S. State Department, the [newly admitted spying] agency has used its collaborative global role to foster diplomacy and push the executive branch’s international priorities.

• New executive order reclassifies NASA as an intelligence [spying] and security agency (The Debrief)

Why the rebrand?

Don't expose fake moon landing video footage!

The reclassification was in part tied to eliminating employee unions at NASA. The executive order ended the agency’s collective bargaining ability by designating its missions as national security work. Democrats are unhappy about it:

“NASA’s mission has always been the exploration of space, the advancement of science, and collaboration with international partners,” said Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a former astronaut.

“It’s not [supposed to be] a spy agency. This executive order is just an attempt to strip NASA employees of their collective bargaining rights and compromises the trust and cooperation we’ve built globally that allows us to lead in space.” More

• White House moves to eliminate NASA labor unions - SpaceNews
• The Space Race (questionable Apollo moon landings); Audrey Decker, politico.com; James E. David; Pfc. Sandoval, Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly