While the details remain sketchy, a transition team reviewing NASA and its operations has begun drafting possible orders for changes in space policy under the Trump administration.
Sources familiar with five people on the team, who have spent the past six weeks scrutinizing the space agency and its probe programs, noted that such teams are advisory in nature. They do not formally set policy and their work does not always reflect the direction the incoming president’s administration will take.
Nevertheless, in trying to set clear goals for NASA and public space policy, the ideas under consideration reflect the Trump administration’s desire for “big change” at NASA, both in terms of increasing the efficiency and speed of its programs.
It’s Not Business As Usual
The reform group has been dealing with an institution with too many centers—ten scattered across the United States, with an official headquarters in Washington, DC—and large, slow-moving programs that cost a lot of money and are slow to deliver results.
“This will not be normal,” said one person familiar with the group’s meetings. The mindset behind their negotiations is focused on results and speed.
Donald Trump will be inaugurated as president for his second term in a little less than a month from now, on January 20. On that day, he is expected to sign a number of executive orders on the issues he campaigned on. This may include space policy, but that will likely wait until later in his presidency.
Another source said the space shuttle team was working on ideas that Trump has publicly discussed, including his interest in Mars. For example, during a campaign speech this fall, Trump referred to SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who contributed a lot during the campaign in terms of time and money, and his desire to settle Mars.
“We’re leading in space over Russia and China… It’s my strategy, I’m going to talk to Elon,” Trump said in September. “Elon move those rocket ships because we want to get to Mars before the end of my time, and we want to have a great military defense in space.”
Hypotheses
The transition team has been discussing possible executive order or other policy directives. They include:
- Establishing the goal of sending people to the Moon and Mars, by 2028
- It cancels the expensive Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft
- Consolidating the Goddard Space Flight Center and the Ames Research Center at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama
- Maintaining a small administrative presence in Washington, DC, but moving the headquarters to the arena
- Quickly redesigning the Artemis moon system for better performance
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