Enabling Competition in the Commercial Space Industry

The order directs the Department of Transportation to eliminate or expedite environmental reviews for commercial launch and reentry licenses, reevaluate and potentially rescind Part 450 regulations governing commercial launch vehicles, and establish a new senior advisory position at the Office of the Secretary focused on space deregulation. It directs the FAA to appoint a noncareer senior executive as Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation. It directs the Department of Commerce to elevate its Office of Space Commerce into the Office of the Secretary and, within 150 days, to propose a streamlined authorization process for novel space activities covered by the Outer Space Treaty but not clearly governed by existing rules. It directs the Departments of Defense, Interior, and Transportation, together with NASA, to expedite spaceport-related environmental and administrative reviews, execute an interagency memorandum of understanding aligning those processes, and consider invoking the Endangered Species Committee for spaceport projects.

The order does not itself rescind any existing regulation or environmental requirement — all substantive changes depend on future rulemaking or agency determinations. Human spaceflight is explicitly excluded from the novel space activity authorization provision, and all actions are subject to applicable law and available appropriations.

Commercial space launch and reentry vehicle operators seeking FAA licenses and permits, spaceport developers on federal and coastal lands, companies pursuing novel space activities lacking clear regulatory coverage, and states whose coastal zone management approvals may be reviewed for compliance with federal law.

Companies seeking to launch rockets, operate reentry vehicles, or develop new spaceports may face fewer regulatory delays if agencies follow through on the directives. The 2030 target creates pressure on agencies to accelerate approvals that currently take months or years, which could affect the pace of commercial and defense-related space activity.

The order works through a sequenced set of agency reporting obligations: Transportation and the FAA begin deregulatory actions within 60 days and report on Part 450 reforms within 120 days; Commerce and Defense execute a spaceport MOU and complete a coastal compliance review within 180 days; Commerce proposes a novel-activity framework within 150 days. All proposals flow to named White House advisers — not the public — giving the executive branch a central coordination role. Actual regulatory changes require separate rulemaking. No enforcement mechanism is specified beyond internal reporting chains.