Trump pledges 'golden age' of space travel

President Donald Trump signed a new policy on Thursday to spark a "golden age" of space transportation, the White House said. The memorandum aims to reinvigorate America's leadership in space, enabling over 1,000 US rocket launches and reentries a year by 2030, as Washington races China to land astronauts on the Moon.

What is Trump's new space transportation policy?

The policy directs NASA to expand commercial access to space, covering transport to the Moon, robotic missions to Mars, and eventual crewed Mars flights. It also pushes federal agencies to identify new US sites for launching and landing spacecraft. The goal is to make space transportation faster, cheaper, and more frequent.

Why is the US racing China to the Moon?

More than 50 years after the first Moon landing, the US and China are both working to put astronauts on the lunar surface before 2030. Trump's memorandum frames space transportation as central to that competition. NASA is already developing a lunar surface base and using robotic vehicles to build infrastructure for future human missions.

What does the policy ask NASA to do?

The memorandum calls on NASA to facilitate commercial transportation to and from the Moon, support commercial robotic access to Mars, and explore commercial options for sending humans to and from Mars. It also encourages greater private investment in US space exploration. NASA is targeting 2027 to test an in-orbit rendezvous between its spacecraft and at least one lunar lander.

How are SpaceX and Blue Origin involved?

Billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are racing to build lunar landers through their companies SpaceX and Blue Origin. Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 with the goal of eventually flying humans to Mars and establishing colonies there. Both companies are expected to play a central role in NASA's Moon and Mars ambitions under the new policy.