Although the details remain in flux, the transition team reviewing NASA and its operations has begun drafting potential executive orders for changes to space policy under the Trump administration.
Sources familiar with the five-person team, which has spent the past six weeks assessing the space agency and its exploration plans, were careful to note that such teams are advisory in nature. They do not formally set policy, nor is their work always indicative of the direction in which a future presidential administration will move.
Nevertheless, in trying to set clear goals for NASA and civilian space policy, the ideas under consideration reflect the Trump administration’s desire for “big changes” at NASA, both in terms of increasing the efficiency and speed of its programs.
Not Business as Usual
The turnaround team has struggled with an agency that has an abundance of field centers—ten spread across the United States, as well as a formal headquarters in Washington, DC—and large, slow-moving programs that cost a lot of money and have been slow to deliver results.
“This will not be business as usual,” said a person familiar with the group’s meetings. The mindset that drives their thinking is a focus on results and speed.
Donald Trump will be inaugurated as president for his second term in a little less than a month, on January 20th. On that day, he is expected to sign a number of executive orders on issues for which he campaigned. This could include space policy, but more likely will wait until later in his presidency.
One source said the space transition team has been working from ideas that Trump has talked about publicly, including his interest in Mars. For example, during a campaign speech in the fall, Trump referenced SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who played a significant role during the campaign both in terms of time and money, and his desire to settle Mars.
“We lead in space over Russia and China… That’s my plan, I’ll talk to Elon,” Trump said in September. “Elon is getting those rocket ships going because we want to reach Mars by the end of my term, and we also want great military protection in space.”
Ideas under consideration
The transition team has discussed possible elements of an executive order or other policy directives. They include:
- Establishing the goal of sending humans to the Moon and Mars by 2028
- Canceling the costly Space Launch System rocket and possibly the Orion spacecraft
- Consolidation of Goddard Space Flight Center and Ames Research Center at Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama
- Maintains a small administration presence in Washington, DC, but otherwise moves headquarters to a field center
- Rapid redesign of the Artemis lunar program to make it more efficient