The Trump administration is considering a plan to utilize the over 3 billion acres of US offshore territory for space launches, according to a federal notice. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced it is seeking public input on the possibility of using the submerged land formations and existing offshore facilities of the Outer Continental Shelf for space-related activities. This includes the operation of offshore space launch platforms and potential identification of re-entry sites.
The Outer Continental Shelf presents a significant opportunity to support the future of America’s space economy, said Matt Giacona, acting director of BOEM. The agency argues that the potential space launches will advance priorities for the sector laid out in a 2025 Trump executive order. Offshore launch, re-entry, and recovery infrastructure could expand operational flexibility, increase capacity, reduce constraints on growing launch demand, and strengthen the nation’s commercial and national security space capabilities, Giacona added.
Some have raised concerns about using these coastal zones for space activities, citing potential environmental impacts. Space junk and rocket explosions have already been trashing our coastal wildlife refuges and now Trump wants to expand that destruction farther into our oceans, said Miyoko Sakashita, oceans program director at the Center for Biological Diversity. Demand for regular space launches remains high, driven by companies such as SpaceX and Amazon pursuing satellite-based internet networks and AI companies seeking to establish data centers in space.
Companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin have driven down launch costs, and Lockheed Martin, Firefly Aerospace, and Seagate Space are seeking to use sea-based platforms for national security missions, including supporting the Trump administration’s Golden Dome defense initiative, a space-based missile defense system. Coastal areas are already used for launches, including Vandenberg Space Force Base in central California and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, and SpaceX’s Starbase facility in southern Texas. SpaceX also lands certain stages of its rockets on autonomous ‘drone ships.’ However, environmentalists have accused SpaceX of causing devastating impacts on wildlife, particularly birds, near its Starbase facility, which is near Las Palomas Wildlife Management Area, Boca Chica State Park, and the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge.
The Audobon Society claimed in a 2024 report that the company is undoing decades of work and investments to protect this unique ecosystem for future generations.
