Olivia Asher is a reporter at the New Herald Tribune covering breaking news for the Digital Trends Desk. Before joining the newsroom in 2022, she covered criminal justice issues at the Orlando Plain Dealer.
August 14 , 2025
Houston - President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order on Wednesday that drastically curtails federal oversight for commercial spaceflight companies, with billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX positioned as the directive’s main beneficiary. The order also directs NASA to transition all scheduled government space launches onto SpaceX rockets, marking a transformative shake-up in both regulation and federal launch contracting.
The new directive instructs the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to either eliminate or expedite most environmental and safety reviews for all commercial rocket launch licenses managed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the nation's chief spaceflight regulator. The order also targets what it calls “outdated, redundant, or excessively restrictive” regulatory frameworks, seeking to overhaul licensing policies for both launch and reentry vehicless.
At a White House event, President Trump proclaimed, “Bureaucratic red tape should never be the reason America falls behind in the new space race. Our best innovators must be free to lead and win.” While the text of the order does not mention SpaceX by name, industry observers and critics widely note that no other company stands to benefit as immediately or as substantially as Musk’s rocket firm, which now eclipses even NASA in terms of launch cadence and technical capabilities.
Perhaps the most significant clause in Trump’s order is its directive to NASA: effective immediately, the space agency must shift all of its scheduled space launches onto SpaceX rockets. This includes crewed flights, deep space missions, and satellite deployments, potentially sidelining other legacy contractors such as United Launch Alliance and threatening the agency’s own rocket development programs.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Starship vehicles already dominate commercial launches, and the Crew Dragon capsule is currently the only American spacecraft sending astronauts to the International Space Station. Now, with federal support locked in by presidential order, SpaceX is set to become the backbone of NASA’s launch operations.
The order has sparked immediate pushback from environmental groups and some lawmakers, who warn that relaxing the review process and stripping away oversight endangers coastal habitats, public safety, and the long-term sustainability of America’s space infrastructure. Jared Margolis, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, stated, “Allowing agencies to bypass fundamental environmental safeguards in favor of powerful corporations is hazardous and endangers everyone. This clearly does not serve the public good."
Critics also caution that the move abolishes essential checks designed to prevent catastrophic accidents, especially as rocket launches become ever more frequent. Under the new framework, investigations into failed launches and their impacts may be limited in scope or duration.
Industry analysts agree: the Trump order solidifies SpaceX as the nation’s preeminent launch provider and puts extraordinary regulatory power in the company’s hands. Whether this accelerates American innovation—or leads to new risks—remains hotly debated in Washington and across the global space community.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, reached for comment late Wednesday, signaled enthusiasm for the order, stating on social media, “America can now move at the speed of innovation. It’s time to get to Mars.”
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