President Trump signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum Thursday establishing a new National Space Transportation Policy aimed at dramatically expanding the number of rockets launching and spacecraft landing on American soil, replacing a policy that had not been updated since the Obama administration in 2013.
The memorandum, which the White House framed as launching a “Golden Age of Space Transportation,” sets a goal of enabling more than 1,000 launches and reentries on American soil annually by 2030 — a sharp increase from current levels. The policy repeals and replaces the previous National Space Transportation Policy, which was first issued by the Clinton administration in 1994 and last updated 13 years ago.
The new policy directs federal agencies to incentivize co-development of space transportation infrastructure with private sector partners, expedite permitting and environmental reviews, develop fair and transparent cost recovery policies for common space services and infrastructure, and publish range scheduling criteria to improve access for commercial operators. It also places greater emphasis on developing additional launch sites and spacecraft landing locations across the country, aiming to reduce bottlenecks at existing ranges.
The administration framed the policy as part of a broader effort to ensure the United States maintains its leadership in commercial space as China and other nations expand their own space programs. The memorandum builds on two earlier Trump space policy actions — an August 2025 executive order streamlining commercial space regulations and a December 2025 order establishing an America First space policy targeting a return of astronauts to the Moon by 2028 and a permanent lunar outpost by 2030.
The administration has also pointed to the April 2026 Artemis II mission, which sent American astronauts to lunar orbit for the first time in more than 50 years, as evidence of renewed momentum in U.S. space exploration.