President Donald Trump has signed a presidential memorandum intended to raise the number of U.S. commercial space launches to at least 1,000 a year by 2030. The order also directs NASA to support commercial transport to the Moon and Mars.
Trump signed the memorandum on Thursday, Avisen Danmark reports, citing Ritzau and Reuters. The stated aim is to enable at least 1,000 launch and landing operations on American soil each year by 2030, compared with 178 in 2025.
The market for commercial rocket launches is dominated by Elon Musk’s company SpaceX. According to the reporting, the signed order focuses on strengthening the commercial space industry and encourages agencies to promote joint development of space transport infrastructure with private companies.
A fact sheet from the White House describes the document as a National Security Presidential Memorandum meant to reinvigorate American leadership in space transportation. It says agencies must expedite permitting and environmental reviews and develop cost recovery policies for shared space services and infrastructure.
Federal land and a 90-day deadline
The memorandum instructs the Secretary of Transportation and other cabinet officials, in coordination with NASA, to identify further space transportation sites on U.S. government property. As reported by Reuters, the memo also tells agencies to designate priority airspace for critical launch corridors.
Trump wants a new federal landing site for spacecraft returning through the atmosphere identified within 90 days. Reuters adds that agencies are told to avoid government space transportation activities that compete with commercial providers, unless public safety or national security requires it.
NASA is directed to facilitate commercial transport to and from the Moon and commercial robotic access to Mars. The agency must also examine commercial options for sending humans to and from Mars. Trump wants American astronauts back on the Moon before 2028.
The Norwegian outlet VG presents the memorandum as part of Trump’s broader lunar ambitions, noting the same 2030 target and the 90-day deadline for a new landing area. VG also reports that several federal agencies are ordered to look for government land for launch and landing sites.
SpaceX carried out 170 launches in 2025 and placed around 2,500 satellites in orbit. In May 2026, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration said the company is aiming for 10,000 launches a year within five years. In January 2026, SpaceX said it wants a constellation of one million satellites to deliver solar power to data centers for artificial intelligence.
Reuters notes that the 178 launches and reentries recorded in 2025 were already ten times the 2013 level, driven largely by SpaceX’s rising launch cadence. Musk served as a close adviser to Trump and led the administration’s efficiency work in the first months of his second term.
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