US President Donald Trump has pledged to significantly expand American space activity, calling for more rocket launches and greater commercial involvement in missions to the Moon and Mars. The initiative is aimed at strengthening the United States’ position in space transportation and exploration as Washington competes with China for future lunar missions. The White House said the policy seeks to boost the frequency of launches and reentries from US soil while encouraging private companies to play a larger role in space exploration.

Under a memorandum issued Thursday, Trump directed NASA to support commercial transportation to and from the Moon and promote robotic missions to Mars. The administration also wants to explore commercial options for eventually transporting humans to and from Mars. The broader policy seeks to enable more than 1,000 launches and reentries from US territory every year by 2030, marking an ambitious expansion of the country’s space infrastructure and launch capabilities.

The United States is currently seeking to return astronauts to the Moon before 2030, decades after the first human lunar landing. NASA is already working toward establishing a sustained presence on the lunar surface and developing infrastructure that could support future crewed missions. Robotic vehicles are expected to play an important role in preparing the lunar environment for astronauts and creating facilities that can eventually be used by human explorers.

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Trump has also encouraged increased private investment in the US space sector and called for identifying additional locations from which spacecraft can be launched and landed. The push reflects the growing role of commercial aerospace companies in NASA’s plans, with private firms developing spacecraft and lunar landers that could support future government missions. The administration sees stronger cooperation between government agencies and private companies as key to expanding America's space capabilities.

NASA is planning an in-orbit rendezvous test in 2027 involving its spacecraft and at least one lunar lander. Billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are pursuing competing lunar exploration programmes through SpaceX and Blue Origin, respectively. Their companies are developing technologies intended to support a new generation of commercial and government missions beyond Earth orbit.

The policy also places Mars exploration among the longer-term goals of the US space programme. Musk established SpaceX with the stated ambition of eventually sending humans to Mars and supporting settlements there. While crewed missions to Mars remain technologically challenging, the administration's latest directive signals an intention to expand commercial participation and establish the infrastructure needed for increasingly ambitious missions beyond the Moon.

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