Imagine space vacation resorts, weekend trips to the Moon, and interplanetary rockets making routine trips throughout the solar system. While that may all sound like science fiction, it could be closer to reality than you might think, thanks to a bold Trump administration initiative.
This summer, Secretary of Transportation and Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy announced an ambitious plan to build a nuclear fission reactor for deployment on the lunar surface by 2030. If this modern-day Apollo program succeeds, it would be a “giant leap for Mankind” even greater than Neil Armstrong’s first step on the Moon.
The Trump administration is ahead of its time in recognizing the importance of the emerging “space economy.” Astrophysicists and cosmologists believe that there could be quadrillions (that’s 1,000 trillions) of dollars’ worth of untapped resources in space. Moreover, becoming the first country to build infrastructure on the Moon carries with it critical national security implications.
The growth and importance of the space economy have been evident for some time. Over the past decade, the space economy has expanded by 60 percent, with a nine percent increase from 2020 to 2021. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis found that in 2023, the space economy added 0.6 percent to total U.S. GDP and supported 373,000 private-sector jobs.
In the second quarter of 2025, the global space economy reached $613 billion in value, marking a 7.8 percent year-over-year increase. According to another estimate from the Boston Consulting Group and the European Space Policy, the value of the space economy to the broader economy is already estimated at $3.1 trillion. Over the next three years, this number is predicted to increase fivefold.
“Space is a cornerstone of our society,” said Heather Pringle, CEO of the Space Foundation and a retired Air Force Major General. “It underpins our economy, public safety, and national security.”
Amid mounting concerns about demographic collapse and artificial intelligence leading to a white-collar job apocalypse, space-based enterprises could also provide critical new opportunities for growth, investment, and employment in the United States. As the late Nobel Prize-winning economist Gary Becker put it to me in a 2002 interview, the economy is like “a growing tree that must produce new branches and seeds to survive.” He believed that if the economy is “understood and managed correctly,” that it “can grow and support everyone.” The space economy could be one of those new branches.
While the prospect of endeavors like building a nuclear reactor on the Moon is an enormous challenge, equally enormous is the opportunity to provide jobs for designers, electricians, engineers, welders, computer scientists, coders, and dozens of other occupations. Professor Fritz Häusler, an economist and former advisor to the German government on space policy, told me that investing in space will produce “new jobs that no one has even imagined yet.”
Every American household has already benefited from earlier investments in the space economy, often without even realizing it. Services like DirecTV, DISH Network, Sirius XM radio, and GPS systems rely on space-based technology for broadcasting and communication.
Meanwhile, new technologies like Elon Musk’s Starlink and Apple’s ability to use satellites to send emergency messages are further revolutionizing the way human beings stay connected and interact with one another. Soon, thanks to the space economy, it may be the case that you can access the internet from anywhere in the world via your smartphone over a network of satellites.
The increase in satellite launches and the number of satellites currently in orbit is another sign of the rapid development of the space economy. According to the Space Report, there were 259 launches in 2024, which means a spacecraft was taking off approximately every 34 hours – five hours more frequently than in the previous year. By the end of last year, there were more than 11,500 satellites in orbit.
But the real great leap in the development of space-based infrastructure will likely come with commercially viable space mining operations – something a nuclear reactor on the Moon makes a far more viable proposition. In particular, companies could look to launch missions from bases on the Moon to nearby asteroids, which are believed to contain huge deposits of gold, silver, platinum, iron, nickel, and other elements.
Since 2012, efforts to establish processing facilities in lunar orbit have been ongoing. Various space missions have tested drilling technologies – chemical, laser, and mechanical – along with semi-automated transportation to Earth. Scientists have identified suitable materials and extraction methods and evaluated their environmental impact, raising hopes for long-term trials.
By setting his sights on a nuclear reactor and base on the Moon, President Trump is reaffirming America’s destiny as a nation of explorers, pioneers, and entrepreneurs. Just as the frontier once drove innovation and prosperity on Earth, the next frontier lies above us. Building permanent infrastructure in space is not just about science – it is about national strength, economic growth, and the spirit of discovery that defines the American character.
Trump’s vision reminds us that America does not shrink from the unknown – it builds, leads, and boldly claims the future.
Ben Solis is the pen name of an international affairs journalist, historian, and researcher.
Mine the Moon
Space Solar Power : beams to land recteena for cities, 1975 book The High Frontier
New Tech
Improved medical care
Jobs
$$$$
There was talk of men landing on Mars back in the 1980s but it never happened, which was a big disappointment to me! Am nearly seventy now and I would still like to see that much happen in my lifetime!
I imagine it as a penal colony to start with, there should be enough workers to build those vacation spots .It’s been done before, and those who did it were a far cry from today’s criminal .
It will take so much more than imagination and NY is getting ready to inaugurate a Communist Mayor…
These are mostly things that are best left to individual enterprises. We don’t have the money to waste on going to Mars or building a reactor on the moon with the debt we are currently carrying.
I forget this part in my first comments. Sorry.
Few people today realize how much the spinoff of new technology from this civilian pogrom (NASA) affects every facet of their lives today. The spinoff system resulted from President John F. Kennedy declaring at the beginning that all technical developments from the APOLLO space program would be available to individuals and/or companies through licensing agreements. Most items in your kitchen can be traced back to the space program. Other examples include modern cars, electronic equipment we use daily, micro and integrated circuits, plastics, Velcro and similar materials, new medications, items to help the handicapped and the list goes on. It led to a significant increase in our GNP.
This new plan reminds us of the era when NASA was created (late 1950s – early 1960s) and the national motivation associated with President John F. Kennedy’s charge “for man to reach the moon within the decade of the 60s ahead of the Russians”. This was a tremendous national challenge. It motivated the young people of this nation who wanted to be a part of or participate in this effort. Within the high schools of this nation special science clubs such as The Jets began to form. But many prominent people/politicians said it was impossible. But with the foresight and ingenuity of Warner Von Braun plus the need for America to gain the lead in the space race congress along with President J. F. Kennedy became convinced it was feasible and needed. Dr. Von Braun, based on his past experiences with rockets, already had the basic design of the SATURN rocket completed. Needless to say, the challenges were great and would require the abilities of the nation’s best and brightest engineers, mathematicians, physicists and scientists as well as a very skilled industrial workforce. New analytical methods had to be developed, new materials needed to be developed, innovations in electronics especially in computers and miniaturized integrated circuits were needed, new fabrication methods had to be developed in industry, and new telecommunications equipment developed. It was a daunting task. To me, after living through it, it was more of a daunting task in the 1960s than putting a nuclear reactor on the moon and/or going to Mars at this time. The basic technology needed has already been developed and all of the orbital and trans-orbital, trans planetary flight procedures have been developed.
I think this is a good effort for our nation. If you (a nation) don’t look outward, forward and upward you will become stagnant and falter. You can get so ensnared with your own self that you get bogged down. That is if you get so occupied with yourself both good and bad and don’t reach out to others you will waste away. You will defeat yourself, i.e., sink into a hole of despair. All innovation dies. This is clearly pointed out in the bible. Thus, you should reach out to others, “yes others let that your motto be” then you will find satisfaction/joy. It seems people need to be challenged and have something to look forward to. Something to be a part of. This is just as true for a nation as it is for individuals. A nation should not get so ensnared in its internal problems that it forgets about the future needs of its people.
NASA has to “buy rides” into space for its astronauts.
The USA can only benefit from outer space if we replace the current NASA bureaucracy and unleash the power of private enterprise. SpaceX and other companies like it are much more likely to be successful in space exploration than NASA.
Well sir, I am afraid ‘Space’ is fixin’ to belong to China. Hide and watch.
It is much more important for our government to concentrate on making the USA a good place to live & not spend dollars on space program. We should not be increasing our debt by planning vacations to Mars.
It is flat with a dome…the sun and moon are just above. You cannot land on the moon it is not what you think it is.
There is no universe no outer space, only in the movies