US President Donald Trump has signed an unexpected executive order setting an ambitious goal: sending humans back to the Moon by 2028 and protecting space from weapon-related threats. This marks a significant step in the space policy of his second administration.
The order was signed just hours after the swearing-in of billionaire astronaut and former SpaceX client Jared Isaacman as NASA’s 15th administrator. It also brought a reorganization of space policy under the direction of Trump’s science adviser, Michael Kratsios.
In the order titled “Securing American Space Superiority,” Trump instructs the Pentagon and US intelligence agencies to draft a space security strategy. It also encourages cooperation with private contractors and calls for the development of missile-defense technologies under a program known as “Golden Dome.”
Despite speculation, the order appears to have addressed the status of the National Space Council, a Cabinet-level panel Trump created during his first term and had reportedly considered dismantling this year. According to an administration official, the Council will continue to exist but will now fall under the White House Office of Technology Policy, with a new structure in which the president—not the vice president—will serve as chair.
The goal of returning to the Moon by 2028 follows Trump’s earlier plan to send humans to the Moon by 2024, reinforcing space exploration as a priority of US policy.
