Trump’s New Space Order Speeds Up Launches — But Scientists Worry About Environmental Impact
“Something is wrong. It seems it will be a catastrophe," a voice said as the Russian space agency launched a satellite-bearing rocket at a cosmodrome located in a desert steppe in southern Kazakhstan in 2013. Within just a few seconds, the Proton-M rocket veered off course, splitting the skies into a horrifying clamber and erupting into a ball of flames, spewing copious plumes of black smoke, scientists later named “devil’s venom,” as seen in a viral video.
This is not the only rocket that poisoned the atmosphere with its venomous fumes. Each time a rocket or a spaceship propels itself upwards from the ground, it leaves traces of poisonous substances that linger in the sky and the oceans for years to come, affecting the population. Despite these side effects warping the planet’s ecosystem, President Donald Trump recently released a draft executive order stating that he is removing all the environmental barriers from rocket launch projects to dominate the future space missions, according to a press release by The White House.
The order, titled “Enabling competition in the commercial space industry,” was released on August 13 and was aimed at accelerating the commercial space activity in the US, which implies that organizations like SpaceX and Blue Origin might not have to rethink the environmental impacts of their spaceship and rocket launches in the coming times. According to the Office of the Space Commerce, currently, these private space agencies are required to obtain a licence from the US Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) before initiating any launch or re-entry within the country. But after the release of this order, they won’t require the licence anymore, which raises concerns about the environmental aftereffects of their mission.
Clarifying the purpose behind the order, Trump said that this is to ensure that the new space-based industries can enhance their space exploration capabilities and cutting-edge defense systems, so America becomes the towering pioneer rather than its rivals. This order will liberate the space agencies to efficiently carry out their launch processes and conduct space missions, also promoting economic growth, national security, and Federal space objectives.
The proposed order’s environmental impact will remain valid across 14 categories, including air quality, noise, hazardous materials, pollution, water resources, and biological resources like flora and fauna. The array of socioeconomic factors will also be included in this list, along with issues of environmental justice and health risks to children caused by environmental disruptions.
However, as Jared Margolis, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, shared with The Guardian, the President’s order could be regarded as illegal, especially when it comes to the protection of wildlife and the prevention of environmental disasters. The outlet explained that the vibration, sound waves, heat, and explosions resulting from these launches not only damage the habitat but also kill wildlife, and some of them are protected under the Endangered Species Act.
According to The Guardian, the executive order instructs the US transportation department to “use all available authorities to eliminate or expedite” environmental review processes. “The order is directing the transportation department to do whatever they can to avoid National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), but it doesn’t mean that’s possible, or that they have the authority to do so,” Margolis shared.
Margolis brought up Elon Musk’s SpaceX, saying that the order is probably designed to aid the agency’s battles with competing space agencies. Scientists who have notably observed rocket launches at the agency’s launch site in Boca Chica, Texas, on the Gulf of Mexico, have reported that these vehicles often rain down particulate matter, metal, concrete, and even wastewater across the region, which has not only poisoned the local ecology, but also killed the vital wildlife specific to the region, including sea turtles. “It’s a talking point to show he’s supporting industry, but at the end of the day, it’s not something that can happen the way he says it can happen,” the attorney said.
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