Trump Signs Order to Return Americans to the Moon by 2028 and Strengthen Space Defence
President Donald Trump has formalised the United States’ ambition to send astronauts back to the Moon by 2028 and bolster defences against space-based threats. The directives were outlined in a sweeping executive order issued on Thursday, marking the administration’s first major space policy action of Trump’s second term.
The order was announced only hours after billionaire private astronaut and former SpaceX customer Jared Isaacman was sworn in as NASA’s 15th administrator. It also restructured how national space policy is coordinated, placing oversight under Trump’s chief science adviser, Michael Kratsios.
A New Framework for Space Policy
Entitled Ensuring American Space Superiority, the executive order directs the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence agencies to design a new space security strategy. It also calls for greater efficiency among private aerospace contractors and mandates demonstrations of missile-defence systems through Trump’s Golden Dome initiative.
The move appeared to dissolve the National Space Council, a high-level advisory panel of cabinet members that Trump revived during his first term. However, a senior administration official later clarified that the council would continue under the White House’s Office of Technology Policy, though with a revised structure. Under this plan, the president—not the vice president—would chair the council.
Renewed Lunar Ambitions
Trump’s goal of a 2028 lunar landing echoes his earlier 2019 directive to return to the Moon by 2024, a schedule many in the space industry considered overly ambitious. Persistent delays in NASA’s Space Launch System and SpaceX’s Starship programme gradually shifted that target back to 2028, which coincidentally matched NASA’s original timeline under former President Barack Obama.
The new order also calls for establishing “initial elements of a permanent lunar outpost by 2030,” reinforcing NASA’s long-term objective to build sustainable bases powered by nuclear energy. This vision forms part of the broader Artemis programme, which aims to secure a lasting human presence on the Moon and pave the way for future missions to Mars.
Budget Cuts and International Competition
The directive comes as the U.S. faces growing competition from China, which aims to conduct its first crewed lunar mission by 2030. Meanwhile, a government efficiency drive led by Elon Musk, who has served as a close adviser, has reduced NASA’s workforce by 20% and proposed cutting its 2026 budget by around 25% from the typical $25 billion. These reductions have raised concerns about the future of several science-focused missions.
New NASA chief Jared Isaacman, who will address the agency on Friday, has argued for pursuing lunar and Martian goals simultaneously while prioritising a Moon return to outpace China. However, progress will depend largely on the readiness of SpaceX’s Starship lander, which critics, including former NASA leaders, have described as moving too slowly.
with inputs from Reuters