Trump administration eyes offshore space launches

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The Trump administration is considering allowing space launches and re-entry off U.S. coasts, according to a notice published Tuesday.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) said in a notice Tuesday that it was considering allowing the use of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf for offshore space activities.

The Outer Continental Shelf refers to submerged lands that can be found along U.S. coastlines. Those lands have been used by the federal government for oil and gas drilling, as well as offshore wind development.

The BOEM said in its notice it would weigh whether it made sense to repurpose existing infrastructure like oil and gas drilling platforms, as well as the possible development of new platforms built specifically for space launches and reentry.

It said the move was being done in conjunction with an executive order titled “Ensuring American Space Superiority,” which seeks to expand the U.S.’s space presence.

Tuesday’s notice was a Request for Information; it does not formally initiate any sort of rocket launch program in and of itself. But it could be a signal of where federal policy is headed.

It met some criticism from environmental activists.

“Space junk and rocket explosions have already been trashing our coastal wildlife refuges and now Trump wants to expand that destruction farther into our oceans,” said Miyoko Sakashita, oceans program director at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement.

“At best, this plan is likely another Trump excuse for allowing the oil industry to leave its rusty old junk in the ocean instead of cleaning it up. The whales, sea turtles and other marine wildlife off our coasts deserve better than to suffer for Big Oil and the pet projects of trillionaires and billionaires,” Sakashita added.

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Miyoko Sakashita

offshore drilling

offshore energy

Space launches

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