President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that sets an ambitious new space agenda as NASA receives its newest administrator, which includes a call for Americans to return to the moon by 2028.

The executive order comes hours after billionaire Jared Isaacman was sworn in as the new NASA administrator, replacing Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in the interim role. 

The order also calls for the establishment of initial elements of a permanent lunar outpost by 2030, and the deployment of nuclear reactors on the Moon and in orbit, including a lunar surface reactor that will be ready for launch by 2030.

"Superiority in space is a measure of national vision and willpower, and the technologies Americans develop to achieve it contribute substantially to the Nation’s strength, security, and prosperity," Trump wrote in the order. "The United States must therefore pursue a space policy that will extend the reach of human discovery, secure the Nation’s vital economic and security interests, unleash commercial development, and lay the foundation for a new space age."

Trump said his administration will be focused on leading the world in space exploration, and securing and defending American vital national and economic security interests in, from, and to space.

The order additionally calls for the Trump administration to deliver a readout to Trump by mid-March with a NASA plan to hit the goals outlined in the order, and for the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology to establish a draft for a National Initiative for American Space Nuclear Power by the middle of February. 

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.