Although details are still in flux, the transition team is reviewing the situation NASA and its activities have begun drafting potential executive orders for space policy changes under the Trump administration.
Sources familiar with the five people on the team that have spent the last six weeks assessing the space agency and its exploration plans have been careful to point out that such teams are advisory in nature. They do not formally set policy, nor is their work always indicative of the direction in which the future presidential government will move.
Still, in an attempt to set clear goals for NASA and civilian space policy, the ideas being considered reflect the Trump administration’s desire for “big changes” at NASA, both in terms of increasing effectiveness and speed their programs.
Not business as usual
The transition team is grappling with an agency that has an overabundance of field centers – ten spread across the United States, as well as a formal headquarters in Washington, D.C. – and large, slow programs that cost a lot of money and only have slowly delivered results.
“This will not be business as usual,” said one person familiar with this group’s meetings. The mindset underlying their thinking is a focus on results and speed.
Donald Trump will be sworn in for his second term as president in a little less than a month, on January 20th. That day, he is expected to sign a series of executive orders on issues he championed during the campaign. This could include space policy, but it is more likely that this will wait until later in his presidency.
A source said the space transition team has been working on ideas that Trump has spoken about publicly, including his interest in Mars. During a campaign speech this fall, for example, Trump referenced SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who played a significant role in both time and money during the campaign and reiterated his desire to colonize Mars.
“We are the leader in space against Russia and China… That’s my plan, I’ll talk to Elon.” Trump said in September. “Elon is getting these rocket ships going because we want to get to Mars before the end of my term, and we also want to have major military protection in space.”
Ideas Considered
The transition team has discussed possible elements of an executive order or other policy directives. This includes:
- Setting the goal of sending people to the Moon and Mars by 2028
- Elimination of the expensive Space Launch System rocket and possibly the Orion spacecraft
- Consolidation of the Goddard Space Flight Center and the Ames Research Center into the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama
- Maintaining a small administrative presence in Washington, DC, but otherwise moving headquarters to a field center
- Rapidly redesign the Artemis lunar program to make it more efficient
