Trump order relaxing commercial spaceflight rules boosts some space-related stocks

Investing.com - Some space-related stocks rose in premarket U.S. trading on Thursday after President Donald Trump signed an executive order designed to accelerate rocket launches and increased spaceport development.

Shares of AIRO Group (NASDAQ: AIRO) surged by more than 11% prior to the opening bell on Wall Street, while Satellogic (NASDAQ: SATL) added over 8%, and Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ: RKLB) and Ast SpaceMobile (NASDAQ: ASTS) rose by about 1.6%.

Trump’s order, which he unveiled on Wendesday, aims to streamline federal regulation overseeing commmercial rocket launching -- marking a possible boost to billionaire SpaceX chief executive, and former Trump confidante, Elon Musk and other private space ventures.

The U.S. transportation secretary was directed to either scrap or expedite environmental reviews of launch licenses issued by the Federal Aviation Administration, with Trump’s order arguing that "[i]nefficient permitting processes discourage investment and innovation, limiting the ability of U.S. companies to lead in global space markets."

Space industry executives have long said that they have been frustrated by what they perceive as a slow process for gaining federal permits for launches and other operations.

Many of the sector leaders have reportedly been anticipating that Trump would address these concerns during his second term in the White House, particularly after Musk was given a central advisory role to the president shortly after his inauguration in January. The two have since gone through a split largely played out through social media.

While not explicitly mentioned in the executive order, SpaceX has far outpaced other U.S. industry rivals, including NASA, in the amount of launches it has carried out to place its own lucrative satellite network in orbit.

Musk has frequently hit out at the FAA over its post-flight investigations and licensing reviews, saying the processes have slowed progress of his Starship rocket, a crucial piece of both SpaceX’s and NASA’s long-term ambitions for lunar landings and crewed missions to Mars.

Another key beneficiary could be the space tourism unit of Blue Origin, the privately-held rocket firm founded and owned by Jeff Bezos.

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