US Edition
Trump Administration Relaxes Environmental Regulations for Commercial Space Industry | News Channel 3-12
The order directs the Department of Transportation to cut redundant rules and speed up licensing, aiming to boost U.S. commercial space launches and create a senior space commerce official.
- On Aug. 13, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing Duffy to streamline licensing and eliminate environmental reviews for FAA launch approvals.
- Amid concerns over regulatory costs, the order calls for scrapping outdated, redundant or overly restrictive rules for launch and reentry vehicles, including the National Environmental Policy Act and DEI requirements.
- The order sets a 60-day deadline, and the FAA reports a record 148 licensed operations in 2024, up by more than 30%.
- Environmental groups warn looser rules could stress ecosystems, with Margolis said, `'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,'".
- The order aims to increase commercial space launch cadence and novel activities by 2030, requiring secretaries and the NASA administrator to report to the DOJ within 120 days on CZMA compliance.
14 Articles
14 Articles
Trump Administration relaxes environmental regulations for commercial space industry | News Channel 3-12
WASHINGTON D.C. – On Wednesday, the Trump Administration issued a new executive order making changes to the licensing and permitting process for the commercial space industry including the relaxation of federal environmental reviews and the changes to the Office of Space Commerce. The executive order entitled "Enabling Competition in the Commercial Space Industry" tasks the Secretary of Transportation to "use all available authorities to elimina…
U.S. President Donald Trump ordered Wednesday to relax procedures and regulations, particularly environmental ones, to allow the U.S. private space sector to increase its launches, a measure that would benefit its former ally Elon Musk. "The U.S. policy is to strengthen its dominant position in space by promoting competition in the launch market," said the U.S. president in an executive order.
Trump Rips Up Environmental Rules Protecting Wildlife From Destructive Rocket Launches
Their friendship may be over, but president Donald Trump just handed Elon Musk and his company SpaceX a major boon by brushing aside major environmental regulations. On Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order to accelerate space launches by effectively deregulating the industry. As part of this push, the Federal Aviation Administration is directed to "eliminate or expedite" environmental reviews — an obstacle that has been a persistent thorn …
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 57% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
