Trump’s space plan envisages US moon base amid race with China
Trump calls for moon landing in 2028, lunar base thereafter, as China targets the end of the decade for its first crewed landing
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that aims to return astronauts to the moon through Nasa’s Artemis space programme with an eye toward building a permanent lunar presence.
The directive reinforces Nasa’s current plans for sending Americans back to the moon by 2028 and for Americans to begin establishing the outpost by 2030. It also confirms plans to deploy nuclear reactors “on the moon and in orbit”.
Thursday’s order also calls for the elimination of the National Space Council with plans to transition its authority to the Office of Science and Technology Policy. The National Space Council is a White House body first created in 1989 to advise the president on issues of space policy and implementation.
The order further seeks to develop next-generation missile defence technology by 2028 as part of Trump’s Golden Dome project and calls for developing capabilities to detect and track threats to the US from low-Earth orbit and cislunar space.
The directive is a comprehensive plan that touches a number of aspects of space policy, including coming up with ways the government can reform how it acquires space assets and investing in technology areas. It envisions the US attracting at least US$50 billion of additional investment in American space markets by 2028.
Earlier this year, the administration proposed phasing out the current Artemis architecture for returning humans to the moon and replacing it with more cost-effective commercial replacements.