During a press conference in late 2024, President Donald Trump vowed to “slash massive numbers of job-killing regulations” in his second term and pledged to eliminate 10 old rules for every new one.
Now he’s bringing that deregulation drive to commercial space, ordering federal agencies to streamline launch licensing, fast-track spaceport development, and clear out the Federal Aviation Administration’s industry advisory board.
“Inefficient permitting processes discourage investment and innovation, limiting the ability of U.S. companies to lead in global space markets,” he stated in an Executive Order signed August 13.
The order directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to cut “outdated, redundant, or overly restrictive” rules that govern launch and reentry licenses. It also instructs the Federal Aviation Administration, which is housed under the DOT, to eliminate or accelerate environmental reviews, ease the path to building new spaceports, and to appoint a “senior executive” charged with fostering “innovation and deregulation.”
The Commerce Department also has been ordered to stand up a new process for authorizing “novel space activities,” like in-space manufacturing or satellite refueling, that don’t fit neatly into existing licensing regimes.
The executive order came the same day transportation secretary and acting NASA administrator Sean Duffy dismissed every member of the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC), a long-standing industry advisory board inside the DOT that shapes spaceflight rules and priorities.
For companies that have spent years mired in environmental reviews and licensing delays, the order was a welcome sign that future bids would experience shorter timelines and more regulatory clarity. The Commercial Space Federation, an industry trade group whose members include SpaceX, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, and a dozen others, applauded the executive order for providing “regulatory relief to unleash the U.S. commercial space industry.”
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Indeed, commercial players are poised to gain a lot under this new regime. Launch companies could benefit from faster permitting and streamlined environmental reviews. State-backed spaceport operators, like Space Floridamay also be aided by provisions that accelerate new site development.
Creating a mission authorization framework for “novel” space activities is equally consequential: startups like Varda Space Industries or Orbit Fab, which are developing technologies to manufacture pharmaceuticals in space and in-orbit refueling, respectively, may gain an advantage by a regulatory approach led by Commerce.
Environmental rule sticking point
Not everyone is celebrating the order. The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), an environmental group that has challenged the FAA’s approval of SpaceX’s Starship program in Texas, called the order “reckless.”
“Bending the knee to powerful corporations by allowing federal agencies to ignore bedrock environmental laws is incredibly dangerous and puts all of us in harm’s way. This is clearly not in the public interest,” senior attorney Jared Margolis said.
For groups like CBD, environmental reviews are not “overly complex,” as the Order charges — they are often completely insufficient. In 2023, environmental groups, including the CBD, alleged that the FAA’s environmental assessment of SpaceX’s South Texas plans were inadequate and in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act.
SpaceX has separately waged an increasingly public campaign against “superfluous” regulations and environmental analyses that have hindered a speedier test campaign.
There are still some unknowns. Legal challenges to the order could slow progress, and the new COMSTAC members, who have yet to be appointed, will inform the future of space rule-making.
