The Trump administration is considering slashing rules meant to protect the environment and the public during commercial rocket launches, changes that companies like Elon Musk\u2019s SpaceX have long sought.<\/p>\n
A draft executive order being circulated among federal agencies, and viewed by ProPublica, directs Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy to \u201cuse all available authorities to eliminate or expedite\u201d environmental reviews for launch licenses. It could also, in time, require states to allow more launches or even more launch sites \u2014 known as spaceports \u2014 along their coastlines.<\/p>\n
![\"President-elect](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/AP24324780149643.jpg\" "\\"President-elect")
\nDonald Trump walks with Elon Musk before a SpaceX rocket launch in Nov. 2024 in Boca Chica, Texas (now known as Starbase).\u00a0<\/p>\n
The order is a step toward the rollback of federal oversight that Musk, who has fought bitterly with the Federal Aviation Administration over his space operations, and others have pushed for. Commercial rocket launches have grown exponentially more frequent in recent years.<\/p>\n
Critics warn such a move could have dangerous consequences.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would not be reasonable for them to be rescinding regulations that are there to protect the public interest, and the public, from harm,\u201d said Jared Margolis, a senior attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, a nonprofit that works to protect animals and the environment. \u201cAnd that\u2019s my fear here: Are they going to change things in a way that puts people at risk, that puts habitats and wildlife at risk?\u201d<\/p>\n
The White House did not answer questions about the draft order.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Trump administration is committed to cementing America\u2019s dominance in space without compromising public safety or national security,\u201d said White House spokesperson Kush Desai. \u201cUnless announced by President Trump, however, discussion about any potential policy changes should be deemed speculation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The order would give Trump even more direct control over the space industry\u2019s chief regulator by turning the civil servant position leading the FAA\u2019s\u00a0Office of Commercial Space Transportation<\/a>\u00a0into a political appointment. The last head of the office and two other top officials recently took voluntary separation offers.<\/p>\n The order would also create a new adviser to the transportation secretary to shepherd in deregulation of the space industry.<\/p>\n The draft order comes as SpaceX is ramping up its ambitious project to build a reusable deep-space rocket to carry people to Earth\u2019s orbit, the moon and eventually Mars. The rocket, called Starship, is the largest, most powerful ever built, standing 403 feet tall with its booster. The company has hit some milestones but has also been beset by problems, as three of the rockets launched from Texas this year have exploded \u2014 disrupting air traffic and raining debris on beaches and roads in the Caribbean and Gulf waters.<\/p>\n The draft order also seeks to restrict the authority of state coastal officials who have challenged commercial launch companies like SpaceX, documents show. It could lead to federal officials interfering with state efforts to enforce their environmental rules when they conflict with the construction or operation of spaceports.<\/p>\n Derek Brockbank, executive director for the Coastal States Organization, said the proposed executive order could ultimately force state commissions to prioritize spaceport infrastructure over other land uses, such as renewable energy, waterfront development or coastal restoration, along the coastline. His nonprofit represents 34 coastal states and territories.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s concerning that it could potentially undermine the rights of a state to determine how it wants its coast used, which was the very fundamental premise of the congressionally authorized Coastal Zone Management Act,\u201d he said. \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t see any president, no matter what their party is, coming in and saying, \u2018This is what a state should prioritize or should do.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n SpaceX is already suing the California Coastal Commission, accusing the agency of political bias and interference with the company\u2019s efforts to increase the number of Falcon 9 rocket launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The reusable Falcon 9 is SpaceX\u2019s workhorse rocket, ferrying satellites to orbit and astronauts to the International Space Station.<\/p>\n Related | Elon Musk’s fat new government contract will make your blood boil<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The changes outlined in the order would greatly benefit SpaceX, which launches far more rockets into space than any other company in the U.S. But it would also help rivals such as Jeff Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin and California-based Rocket Lab. The companies have been pushing to pare down oversight for years, warning that the U.S. is racing with China to return to the moon \u2014 in hopes of mining resources like water and rare earth metals and using it as a stepping stone to Mars \u2014 and could lose if regulations don\u2019t allow U.S. companies to move faster, said Dave Cavossa, president of the Commercial Space Federation, a trade group that represents eight launch companies, including SpaceX, Blue Origin and Rocket Lab.<\/p>\n \u201cIt sounds like they\u2019ve been listening to industry, because all of those things are things that we\u2019ve been advocating for strongly,\u201d Cavossa said when asked about the contents of the draft order.<\/p>\n Cavossa said he sees \u201csome sort of environmental review process\u201d continuing to take place. \u201cWhat we\u2019re talking about doing is right-sizing it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He added, \u201cWe can\u2019t handle a yearlong delay for launch licenses.\u201d<\/p>\n The former head of the FAA\u2019s commercial space office said\u00a0at a Congressional hearing last September<\/a>\u00a0that the office took an average of 151 days to issue a new license during the previous 11 years.<\/p>\n Commercial space launches have boomed in recent years \u2014 from 26 in 2019 to 157 last year.\u00a0With more than 500 total launches<\/a>, mostly from Texas, Florida and California, SpaceX has been responsible for the lion\u2019s share,\u00a0according to FAA data<\/a>.<\/p>\n But the company has tangled with the FAA, which last year proposed fining it $633,000 for violations related to two of its launches. The FAA did not answer a question last week about the status of the proposed fine.<\/p>\n SpaceX, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab and the FAA did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n Currently, the FAA\u2019s\u00a0environmental reviews<\/a>\u00a0look at 14 types of potential impacts that include air and water quality, noise pollution and land use, and provide details about the launches that are not otherwise available. They have at times drawn big responses from the public.<\/p>\n When SpaceX sought to increase its Starship launches in Texas from five to 25 a year, residents and government agencies submitted thousands of comments. Most of the nearly 11,400 publicly posted comments opposed the increase, a ProPublica analysis found. The FAA approved the increase anyway earlier this year. After conducting an environmental assessment for the May launch of SpaceX\u2019s Starship Flight 9 from Texas, the FAA released documents that revealed as many as 175 airline flights could be disrupted and Turks and Caicos\u2019 Providenciales International Airport would need to close during the launch.<\/p>\n In addition to seeking to cut short environmental reviews, the executive order would open the door for the federal government to rescind sections of the federal rule that seeks to keep the public safe during launches and reentries.<\/p>\n The rule, referred to as Part 450, was approved during Trump\u2019s first term and aimed to streamline commercial space regulations and speed approvals of launches. But the rule soon fell out of favor with launch companies, which said the FAA didn\u2019t provide enough guidance on how to comply and was taking too long to review applications.<\/p>\n Musk helped lead the charge. Last September, he told attendees at a conference in Los Angeles, \u201cIt really should not be possible to build a giant rocket faster than paper can move from one desk to another.\u201d He called for the resignation of the head of the FAA, who stepped down as Trump took office.<\/p>\n Related | Trump belatedly names FAA chief\u2014after Musk forced out the last one<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Cartoon](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/CjonesRGB04192025.jpg\" "\\"Cartoon")
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