'To Moon And Mars': Trump Pledges To Launch More Rockets Into Space
President Donald Trump has issued a memorandum aiming to accelerate US space exploration, specifically targeting missions to the Moon and Mars. The policy encourages private sector investment and aims to increase the frequency of US space launches to over 1,000 per year by 2030.
Why it matters
This signals a major shift toward commercializing space travel and intensifying the geopolitical space race against China.
President Donald Trump pledged to blast more rockets into space in a push to boost US space travel, including to Mars and the Moon, the White House said Thursday.The United States is competing with China in the race to land astronauts on the Moon before 2030, more than 50 years after humans first walked the lunar surface.The policy aims to "reinvigorate America's leadership in space transportation," enabling over 1,000 launches and reentries on US soil every year by 2030.In a memorandum published Thursday, Trump called on US space agency NASA to "facilitate commercial transportation to and from the moon, to facilitate commercial robotic access to Mars, and to explore commercial avenues to send humans to and from Mars."NASA is already pushing to create a…
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