Trump’s New Space Order Accelerates Militarization — and Rewrites America’s Role Beyond Earth

In a sweeping executive order signed on December 18, President Donald Trump laid out the most ambitious—and arguably most aggressive—U.S. space directive in decades. Framed as a plan to “ensure American space superiority,” the order dramatically expands military, commercial, and nuclear ambitions in orbit and on the Moon, while dismantling parts of previous space governance frameworks.

The language is visionary. The implications are far more complicated.

A Return to the Moon—But for What Purpose?

The order mandates a return of American astronauts to the Moon by 2028 under the Artemis program, followed by the establishment of a permanent lunar outpost by 2030. On paper, it echoes longstanding bipartisan goals of Moon-to-Mars exploration.

But the framing is markedly different.

The Moon is positioned less as a scientific frontier and more as a strategic asset—an arena in which American “leadership” must be asserted against rivals. Lunar economic development is explicitly prioritized, as is integrating commercial actors into exploration architecture.

Critics note that the timeline is technologically and logistically unrealistic without major increases in funding—something the order does not provide. Others warn that the shift from international cooperation to national dominance could undermine the fragile consensus underpinning modern space governance.

Militarizing Orbit: The Most Consequential Shift

The heart of the order is not exploration—it is defense.

Trump directs agencies to develop “next-generation missile defense” systems by 2028, enhance surveillance from low Earth orbit through cislunar space, and explicitly prepare to counter “any placement of nuclear weapons in space.”

This marks one of the most aggressive space militarization directives issued by a U.S. president. It goes significantly beyond the Space Force’s original mandate, signaling a pivot toward offensive and preemptive capabilities.

It also reflects rising alarm within the U.S. intelligence community about:

• China’s rapid expansion of orbital assets,

• Russia’s suspected pursuit of nuclear anti-satellite capabilities, and

• the growing vulnerability of commercial satellites that now underpin global communications.

But the order’s sweeping language—paired with compressed timelines—raises concerns that the United States may accelerate an arms race in orbit without robust diplomatic guardrails.

A Commercial Gold Rush—With Light Oversight

Trump’s directive aims to inject $50 billion into the U.S. space economy by 2028.

It calls for:

• more launch facilities,

• rapid regulatory reforms,

• expanded access to radiofrequency spectrum,

• and a commercial replacement for the International Space Station by 2030.

It also orders NASA and the Commerce Department to overhaul acquisition systems to favor “commercial solutions,” “Other Transactions Authority,” and Space Act Agreements—all mechanisms that reduce oversight and accelerate contracting.

For companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and emerging startups, this could unlock historic growth. For taxpayers, it could mean fewer protections and weaker accountability in one of the highest-cost sectors of government spending.

The order envisions a thriving private space industry. It also risks creating one shaped more by speed and political priorities than by scientific or public interest.

Nuclear Reactors in Space by 2030

Perhaps the most radical directive is the requirement to deploy nuclear reactors on the Moon and in orbit within five years.

Nuclear power has long been debated for deep-space missions, but deploying reactors on the lunar surface—especially on an accelerated political timeline—raises:

• unresolved questions about safety,

• international regulatory gaps,

• precedent-setting militarization concerns,

• and the absence of global agreements governing nuclear materials off Earth.

The optics alone are profound: a United States that once championed nonproliferation is now committing to nuclear infrastructure in cislunar space.

A Dismantling of Previous Frameworks

The order revokes President Biden’s 2021 directive establishing the National Space Council and rewrites parts of the 2018 National Space Traffic Management Policy. The changes shift U.S. services—such as tracking debris—from a “public good” model to one increasingly available for commercial use.

This is a philosophical shift: space is being reframed from a cooperative global commons into a competitive commercial arena.

A Vision for Dominance, Not Stewardship

The executive order reads less like a roadmap for scientific discovery and more like a doctrine of geopolitical competition.

While some measures—such as debris mitigation and industrial base strengthening—respond to real gaps, the overall strategy reflects a worldview in which space is no longer a shared domain but a battleground for national and commercial power.

The risks are clear:

• An accelerated arms race in orbit

• Commercial capture of space governance

• Reduced transparency in government contracting

• Erosion of international cooperation at a moment of rising global tension

Supporters will argue that the U.S. must lead or be overtaken. Critics will counter that leadership without diplomacy is simply escalation by another name.

What is undeniable is that this executive order reshapes the U.S. approach to space for years to come—and does so at a moment when the world is least prepared for new frontiers of confrontation beyond Earth.