Trump’s space order risks environmental disaster while rewarding Musk and Bezos, experts say

US president is pushing an ‘end run around’ on safeguards, risking harm to wildlife, air and water, attorney says

A draft executive order from Donald Trump that aims to largely exempt space launches from environmental review is viewed as a gift to commercial space industry players such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and others who have long targeted the regulations.

But its central components may be illegal and the US president “is trying to do an end run around” on the law, said Jared Margolis, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, which has litigated environmental issues around launches.