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What will space exploration look like under Trump?

Human and private spaceflight may get a boost, but funding for space science is less clear

A huge rocket booster on its side, resting on two wheeled platforms, in front of a large blocky building. Workers in yellow vests walk nearby.

NASA’s Space Launch System, the rocket intended to return humans to the moon, sits outside the agency’s Vehicle Assembly Building at Cape Canaveral, Fla. The rocket’s future in the Trump administration, like much of space exploration policy, is uncertain.

Kim Shiflett/NASA

By Lisa Grossman

The future of U.S. space exploration and NASA-funded science is up in the air as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to return to office.