President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Nov. 3 declaring the solar system and outer space the 'province of all humans' and open for exploration, development, use, and settlement. The announcement comes as the White House prepares for Trump’s first post-midterm public appearance at NASA’s inaugural MAX POWER Aerospace Expo in Florida, scheduled for Friday through Sunday.
Trump’s proclamation and upcoming NASA expo highlight space policy priorities. The proclamation states that the United States will lead efforts to forge an interplanetary civilization founded on freedom and individual liberty. It follows the April launch of NASA’s Artemis II mission, a crewed lunar flyby test that carried astronauts farther from Earth than any human had traveled previously. Trump’s proclamation also references the planned Artemis III mission, a 14-day crewed test flight in low Earth orbit scheduled for mid-summer 2027, which will serve as a precursor to returning astronauts to the Moon’s surface.
White House officials confirmed that Trump is expected to attend the NASA expo, marking his first public appearance since the midterm elections. The event will showcase new aircraft, autonomous vehicles, and technologies at and around the Kennedy Space Center. NASA’s Artemis program manager, Jeremy Parsons, noted that Artemis III is designed to reduce risk before lunar surface missions, involving three spacecraft launched on separate rockets to test coordinated operations.
The proclamation and expo align with Trump’s stated goal of returning American astronauts to the Moon by 2028, with plans for a permanent lunar presence and eventual human missions to Mars. NASA’s Artemis program, developed in partnership with companies like Blue Origin and SpaceX, represents a key component of these efforts. The agency has emphasized that each mission phase is intended to mitigate risks before crewed lunar landings.