Trump Pledges a 'Golden Age' for Space Travel

U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to send more rockets into space to boost spaceflight, including missions to the Moon and Mars, according to the White House. This policy aims to “make the United States a leader once again in space transportation” by enabling the launch and landing of more than 1,000 spacecraft from U.S. territory annually by 2030. In a memorandum recently published, Trump directed the U.S. Space Agency (NASA) to “facilitate commercial transport to and from the Moon, facilitate commercial robotic missions to Mars, and explore commercial pathways for transporting humans to and from Mars.” President Trump also encouraged private investment in U.S. space exploration efforts, calling on his administration to identify additional sites for spacecraft launches and landings. Notably, NASA aims to test orbital rendezvous between its spacecraft and at least one lunar lander in 2027, vehicles that billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are competing to develop through their companies SpaceX and Blue Origin.