President Donald Trump made a bold promise to America minutes after taking the Oath of Office: pledging that an American flag would be planted on Mars.

The president’s Inaugural Address linked landing on the Red Planet with Manifest Destiny, but left many of the specifics unclear.

During his inaugural address, President Donald Trump said he wants 'American astronauts' on Mars. Where does a future Mars mission currently stand?

President Trump vowed to send astronauts to Mars during his second inaugural address. "We will pursue our Manifest Destiny into the stars," he said, promising to send astronauts to plant the American flag on Mars. Elon Musk, the SpaceX CEO and Trump ally, was seated behind the president and gave a vigorous thumbs up at the remark.

Trump’s Mars pledge elicited a huge grin and enthusiastic double thumbs up from billionaire and top Mars colonization enthusiast Elon Musk, who has been pushing his Mars colony agenda for nearly a decade via his SpaceX company.

In his prepared remarks, Trump, a longtime backer of U.S.-led space exploration and exploitation, singled out Mars and left the moon hanging.

With Donald Trump now back in the White House, SpaceX's Elon Musk is more excited than ever about the prospect of his company putting the first humans on Mars.

Set against this backdrop, space-launch company Rocket Lab USA Inc. (RKLB) and space-exploration company Intuitive Machines Inc. (LUNR) are particularly well positioned, according to Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Andres Sheppard.

Trump did not address how his Mars call might affect NASA’s current plans for a Moon mission. NASA in December pushed back the anticipated launch dates for the Artemis II and Artemis III crewed lunar missions. Artemis II is now scheduled for April 2026 and Artemis III for mid-2027.

Space stocks soared during Tuesday’s trading session, lifted by President Trump’s comments championing American space exploration during his inauguration speech Monday. “We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars,

Rocket Lab USA shares trade higher Tuesday following President Donald Trump's inaugural address on Monday, where he vowed to prioritize space exploration and promised to send astronauts to Mars.