India, July 27 -- The American space agency NASA is expected to lose around 20 percent of its workforce after it accepted the President Donald Trump-led administration's "deferred resignation" (DRP) option, media reports said.

The step is seen as a step taken by the Trump administration to reduce federal workforce.

Nearly 4,000 workers have requested to depart the space agency through two rounds of the deferred resignation program, reported The Hill.

In the first round, about 870 employees have applied to leave and approximately another 3,000 workers did so in the second round - downsizing the workforce from 18,000 to around 14,000 people, NASA told The Hill's sister network NewsNation.

According to reports, 500 employees, who were al...