President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order to help streamline regulations and promote competition in the commercial space industry.
Table of Contents
Streamlining Launch Licenses
The White House said Wednesday the EO will help streamline commercial license and permit approvals for U.S.-based operators by directing the secretary of Transportation to accelerate environmental reviews for launch and reentry licenses and permits.
The policy also directs the secretary of Transportation to evaluate regulatory requirements to eliminate redundant, outdated or overly restrictive rules for launch and reentry vehicles.
The order mandates the creation of a position within the Department of Transportation to advise on promoting innovation and deregulation in the commercial space industry. The policy also directs the appointment of an associate administrator for commercial space transportation within the Federal Aviation Administration to advance regulatory reform.
“By slashing red tape tying up spaceport construction, streamlining launch licenses so they can occur at scale, and creating high-level space positions in government, we can unleash the next wave of innovation. At NASA, this means continuing to work with commercial space companies and improving our spaceports’ ability to launch,” Sean Duffy, acting NASA administrator, said in a statement.
“Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, we will enable American space competitiveness and superiority for decades to come. I look forward to leveraging my dual role at DOT and NASA to make this dream a reality,” added Duffy, who also serves as transportation secretary.
Advancing Spaceport Development
The new policy directs the secretaries of Defense and Transportation and the NASA administrator to align their review processes to eliminate duplicative regulations and speed up spaceport development.
Under the EO, the secretary of Commerce should work with the secretaries of Defense and Transportation and the head of NASA to assess states’ compliance with the Coastal Zone Management Act and whether states are hindering spaceport infrastructure development under CZMA.
The order also promotes in-space manufacturing, orbital refueling and other space activities through a streamlined framework.
“The FAA strongly supports President Trump’s Executive Order to make sure the U.S. leads the growing space economy and continues to lead the world in space transportation and innovation,” said FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford. “This order safely removes regulatory barriers so that U.S. companies can dominate commercial space activities.”
Related Articles
When government and industry leaders gathered at the 2025 Space and Missile Defense Symposium last week, the Department of Defense placed a moratorium on officials speaking in public sessions about Golden Dome, President Trump’s Iron Dome-inspired missile protection and alert initiative. However, news from private sessions between military leaders at the Missile Defense Agency and the industrial base have become known, with help from reporting by Breaking Defense. The most significant of this information is about the Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense, a.k.a. SHIELD, contracting vehicle, which MDA released a pre-solicitation paper for at the very end of July. SHIELD is estimated
Jules Hurst III has been appointed to perform the duties of the Defense Department’s under secretary (comptroller) and chief financial officer. The OUSD (C) announced Wednesday that he assumed the acting-capacity role on Aug. 11. Who Is Jules Hurst III? Before his appointment, Hurst was performing the duties of assistant secretary of defense for manpower and reserve affairs. He also performed the duties of under secretary of Defense for personnel and readiness and held various leadership roles under the same office. He also became the defense adviser and legislative director at the Office of the Speaker of the U.S. House
The House and Senate versions of the fiscal 2026 defense policy bill seek to replace subjective contractor evaluations in the Department of Defense’s Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System, or CPARS, with a “negative-only” system, Federal News Network reported Wednesday. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., introduced an amendment to the House Armed Services Committee’s FY 2026 defense bill that would direct DOD contracting officers to “only include negative performance events that have a material impact on contract performance or government interests in CPARS” as part of a push to reduce inconsistency and address subjectivity in contractor assessments. Contracting Officers to Document Negative