The National Space Council may not be dead

Politico reports that the National Space Council may return under the second Trump Administration after it was believed dead, thanks to lobbyists from SpaceX. However, its scale and goals are unknown given the White House’s new focused mission on space exploration.

The council, which was rebirthed during President Trump‘s first term, was used during the last two presidencies as their lead advisor on planning future space initiatives. During Trump’s first term, it was instrumental in creating the Space Force and Artemis Program, while Biden’s council worked on broader programs and continued with the status quo in exploration.

Chaired by the Vice President, it also sees representatives from every executive branch that touches space, both civil and military. Its goal is to foster better communication and policymaking for a stronger national space program.

However, President Trump’s new administration did not mention its intention to bring the council back, and Vice President Vance has not been vocal about any support for the nation’s space programs.

That isn’t to say President Trump hasn’t been getting advised on space issues; Elon Musk has taken over that role, getting President Trump to commit to human Martian exploration missions in both his inaugural address and first address to Congress. Musk’s SpaceX also lobbied to end the NSpC, stating it as unnecessary.

While a strong advocate for human exploration of space, Musk doesn’t have much say or power in crafting the nation’s budget. Unlike previous years when the council was in place, all of the White House’s budget input for space came from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget. It had a simple goal: reduce the nation’s budget by cutting everything not important to a handful of key goals.

This is where NASA‘s largest budget cut proposal in recent history came into play, with a larger cut to NASA’s science missions.

Congress will now have the final say in what is and isn’t funded.

Politico’s source states the National Space Council would likely focus on President Trump’s missions of building the Golden Dome missile defense system, beating China back to the Moon, and landing astronauts on Mars.