HAWTHORNE, Calif. — A sweeping new federal space policy is aiming to clear regulatory room for a dramatic increase in American launches, and SpaceX is positioning itself squarely at the center of that buildout. President Trump signed a National Space Transportation Policy this week that sets a goal of 1,000 U.S. launches and reentries a year, and Elon Musk quickly put an even bolder number on SpaceX's own ambitions.
Musk Puts a Figure on It
Responding on X, Musk wrote that SpaceX is "aiming to reach 30-plus Starship launches per day in 2030, which is about 10,000 annualized," adding that even those figures are "still tiny numbers compared to airplane flights." The comment came a day after the White House unveiled the policy, which science adviser Michael Kratsios tied to a national goal of 1,000 annual launches and reentries.
For context, the FAA's own bull-case forecast reached only 385 annual launches by 2030, while independent models already put SpaceX alone near 940. Musk's target reframes the ceiling entirely, underscoring how central Starship is to the administration's stated vision of a "golden age of space transportation."
What the Policy Actually Does
The memo, signed Thursday, directs federal agencies to identify new launch and reentry sites on federal land — including a new reentry site within 90 days — and to speed up the permitting and environmental reviews that have historically slowed cadence growth. It also sets a goal of returning American astronauts to the moon by 2028 and placing initial lunar base elements by 2030, tying the launch buildout directly to NASA's Artemis program, which SpaceX's Starship is central to.
