Donald Trump

In call with troops, Trump basks in Space Force achievement
During a call with members of the military on his last Thanksgiving as commander in chief, President Trump touted his efforts to establish the Space Force.

Trump ousts defense secretary Mark Esper
In a tweet Nov. 9, President Donald Trump announced he fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper and appointed Christopher Miller as acting secretary.

Trump directs U.S. government agencies to protect critical infrastructure that relies on GPS
The executive order signed Feb. 12 is titled “Strengthening National Resilience Through Responsible Use of Positioning, Navigation and Timing Services.”

U.S. early warning satellites helped avert casualties from Iran’s missile attack
The U.S. military is alerted of missile launches by geosynchronous and polar orbit satellites equipped with infrared sensors.

Top secret Twitter: How trolling Iran with classified satellite imagery could backfire on the U.S.
Trump’s tweet provoked an intense — if short-lived — media uproar, with many questioning the legality and advisability of the president sharing an smartphone snap of a presumably classified briefing chart.

NASA announces Orion achievement on Apollo 11 anniversary
NASA and the White House used the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing to mark the latest achievement in the development of the Orion spacecraft and reaffirm plans to use it to return humans to the moon by 2024.

Trump signs Space Force policy directive, now comes the heavy lifting
SPD-4 gives the Pentagon the official go-ahead to send a proposal to the White House recommending the establishment of a separate military branch for space.

Trump unveils Missile Defense Review, promises funding for space sensors in 2020
Trump: Space ultimately is “going to be a very big part of our defense and offense."

Trump praises commercial space at Cabinet meeting
President Donald Trump offered praise for the U.S. commercial space industry in comments March 8 that appeared to cement previous policy on the issue rather than create new policy.

SpaceX wins accolades for Falcon Heavy success
A rare combination of politicians, space advocates and even competitors lauded SpaceX for its successful inaugural launch of the Falcon Heavy Feb. 6.

Foust Forward | Third time’s the charm to return man to the moon?
President Trump's directive is the third time in less than three decades that a president has formally called for a human return to the moon. The two Presidents Bush made similar declarations, 14 and a half years apart, only to see them falter, one undone when it was saddled with a $500 billion price tag and the other failing to survive a change in administrations.

Op-ed | A new direction in space policy
Implementing the Trump administration's space policy requires increased reliance on the growing array of commercial space capabilities to enable human to return to the moon and go to Mars and beyond.

Trump formally establishes lunar landing goal, but without details
President Donald Trump signed an order Dec. 11 formally directing NASA to send humans back to the moon, but provided no information on schedules or budgets for such an initiative.

President Trump to sign space directive Monday
President Donald Trump is scheduled to sign his administration’s first space policy directive in a White House ceremony Dec. 11, one that may formally direct NASA to send humans back to the moon.

Buzz Aldrin and Greg Autry: It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to run NASA
Finding another James Webb to run NASA was no easy task. President Trump considered several excellent candidates, some of whom we personally admire, but in the spirit of Webb’s leadership, U.S. Rep. Jim Bridenstine is the president’s nominee for NASA administrator.