President Trump Signs the American Declaration of Freedom in Space

President Donald J. Trump signed a proclamation titled The American Declaration of Freedom in Space on November 3, 2026. In the operative clause he proclaimed that the solar system and all of outer space beyond Earth are the province of all humans and are open to exploration, development, use, and the establishment of a permanent presence by American citizens, consistent with United States law and the international obligations of the United States.

The text says the administration is reinvigorating human spaceflight, unleashing a competitive and thriving commercial space industry, and ensuring American space superiority. It says the United States will build facilities, develop resources, and establish a permanent presence in space to extend exploration and strengthen national security.

Key details

• Artemis II, this past April, carried astronauts around the Moon farther from Earth than any human had traveled.
• Artemis III is described as a test flight campaign next summer.
• The instrument is dated the third day of November, two thousand twenty-six, in the two hundred and fifty-first year of American independence.

We will return to the Moon by 2028, lay the foundation for a permanent American lunar presence, and hasten the day when an American becomes the first human to set foot on the red dunes of Mars.

Why it matters

Executive Order 14369 of December 18, 2025, titled Ensuring American Space Superiority, directed returning Americans to the Moon by 2028 through the Artemis program and establishing initial elements of a permanent lunar outpost by 2030.