Details remain fluid, but NASA and the transition team reviewing its operations have begun drafting executive orders for changes to space policy under the Trump administration.
The five officials on the team, which has spent the past six weeks evaluating the space agency and its exploration plans, cautioned that the team is advisory in nature. They do not formally set policy, and their work does not always indicate the direction in which the next presidential administration will proceed.
Nevertheless, as it seeks to set clear goals for NASA and civilian space policy, the ideas under consideration are under consideration by the Trump administration, which calls for “major changes” at NASA in terms of increasing the program’s effectiveness and speed. reflects the aspirations of
not as usual
The transition team is grappling with an agency with an overabundance of field centers (there are 10 across the country, with official headquarters in Washington, D.C.) and a large program with huge costs and slow progress. There is. Results were slow.
“This will not be business as usual,” said one person familiar with the group’s meetings. The idea driving their considerations is a focus on results and speed.
Donald Trump will be sworn in for his second term as president on January 20, in less than a month. He is expected to sign a number of executive orders on campaign issues that day. This could include space policy, but that will likely wait until after the president takes office.
One person said the space transition team is building on ideas that Trump has talked about publicly, including an interest in Mars. For example, in his campaign speech this fall, Trump mentioned SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who played a key role in both time and money during the campaign, and his desire to settle Mars. .
“We’re ahead of Russia and China in space…This is my plan. I’ll talk to Elon.” President Trump said this in September.. “Elon wants to get to Mars before my term ends, so get your rocket ships going. We also need strong military protection in space.”
Ideas under consideration
The transition team has been discussing elements that could be included in executive orders and other policy directives. They include:
- Set a goal of sending humans to the moon and Mars by 2028
- Cancel expensive Space Launch System rocket and possibly Orion spacecraft
- Consolidation of Goddard Space Flight Center and Ames Research Center into Marshall Space Flight Center, Alabama
- Maintain a small administrative base in Washington, DC, but otherwise move headquarters to a field center
- Rapidly redesign Artemis lunar program to increase efficiency
