President Trump signed a national security memorandum Thursday aiming for more than 1,000 U.S. space launches and reentries a year by 2030, opening federal land for launch sites, speeding permitting, and setting Americans on the moon by 2028.
President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a national security memorandum that sets America on a path toward more than 1,000 space launches and reentries every year by 2030, a fivefold jump from the record pace of 178 launches logged last year. The directive, called a National Security Presidential Memorandum, replaces an outdated space transportation policy and hands federal agencies a commercial-first playbook for the next era of American spaceflight.
The policy calls on agencies to open federal land for new launch and reentry sites, speed up permitting and environmental reviews, and clear the way for private companies to build the infrastructure the industry needs to scale. White House science adviser Michael Kratsios said the approach positions America to lead the next era of space at a moment of explosive growth in the sector.
The memorandum repeals the old National Space Transportation Policy and replaces it with what the White House is billing as a Golden Age of Space Transportation. The core idea is simple: government should get out of the way of private launch providers and build the runway they need to fly.
Agencies are directed to incentivize co-development of space transportation infrastructure with private-sector partners, expedite permitting and environmental reviews, and ensure adequate wireless spectrum for launch operations. The policy also orders fair and transparent cost recovery for common space services and infrastructure, along with published range schedules designed to maximize use of launch resources.
The memo makes clear that federal agencies should refrain from conducting space transportation activities that preclude, discourage, or compete with U.S. commercial space transportation, unless public safety or national security requires otherwise. In plain terms, commercial providers get first call on the range.
The Secretary of Transportation and the Secretary of the Interior, working with the Secretary of War and the NASA Administrator, are directed to identify additional launch and reentry sites on government property. The Interior Department has 90 days to pinpoint a new federal reentry site, with the Commerce Department following up with a development plan for it within 240 days.
The memorandum also designates priority airspace for critical space launch corridors and folds space transportation into air traffic control modernization efforts. Range scheduling criteria are due within 180 days so that military, civil, and commercial users get fair access to launch windows.
Foreign commercial space vehicles get a pathway too. Federal agencies are told to consider, on a case-by-case basis, requests to launch commercial foreign space vehicles from U.S. soil, keeping American ranges competitive in the global launch market.
The memorandum directs NASA to facilitate commercial transportation to and from the moon, support commercial robotic access to Mars, and explore commercial avenues for sending humans to Mars. Kratsios described the vision as a commercial-first approach enabling Americans on the Moon by 2028, initial Moon Base elements by 2030, and rapid, resilient launch capabilities for national security.
The policy builds on the executive order Trump signed in December that set the 2028 lunar return as a national goal, alongside establishment of initial elements of a permanent lunar outpost by 2030. With commercial partners carrying cargo and crew, NASA can focus on exploration while industry builds the space economy.
The Secretary of War is directed to pursue in-space transportation services for existing and potential missions, a step that opens military demand to commercial providers moving payloads between orbits. Government payloads will launch on vehicles manufactured in the United States, with narrow exceptions, keeping taxpayer-funded missions on American rockets.
The 178 launches recorded last year were already ten times the total from 2013, and the market keeps accelerating. SpaceX dominated commercial launch activity in 2025, and the new policy spreads opportunity across a broader field of providers, including Rocket Lab, Intuitive Machines, and AST SpaceMobile, as launch capacity and range access expand.
Reaching 1,000 launches a year would put the United States far ahead of any competitor and cement its position as the world's launchpad. The memo ties that growth to national and economic security, noting that American space transportation capabilities underpin the global economy and support military readiness, satellite communications, navigation and timing services, weather forecasting, and other space-based technologies.
The clock is now running on a series of concrete deadlines. A new federal reentry site must be identified within 90 days, range scheduling criteria are due within 180 days, and a full development plan for the reentry site follows within 240 days. Agencies will also move to designate priority airspace and integrate space transportation into air traffic control modernization.
If the administration hits its targets, the United States will go from roughly one launch every two days to nearly three launches a day by 2030. For an industry already growing faster than anyone expected, the new policy is a signal that Washington intends to keep the pedal down on American space leadership.
President Trump signed a national security memorandum Thursday aiming for more than 1,000 U.S. space launches and reentries a year by 2030, opening federal land for launch sites, speeding permitting, and setting Americans on the moon by 2028.
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