TRUMP PLANS U.S. SPACE ACADEMY
PHOTO CAPTION: President Donald Trump appears with the Artemis II crew at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Aug. 28, 2026. During the visit, Trump signed an order beginning the process of establishing a new U.S. Space Academy. (NASA)
President Donald Trump signed an order Friday launching the process of creating a new U.S. Space Academy designed to train future military, civilian and technical leaders for America's expanding role in space.
Trump announced the plan during a visit to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, where he also presented the Artemis II crew with the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.
The proposed academy would be a NASA-led federal institution combining technical education with leadership development, discipline and a commitment to public service. Trump described the concept as modeled after the nation's military service academies, including West Point.
The order does not immediately establish an operating school or select its location.
Instead, it creates a Presidential Commission on the United States Space Academy and gives the group 120 days to develop recommendations for how the institution would actually work.
NASA's administrator will chair the commission, with representatives from the Air Force, national security leadership, the Office of Management and Budget and other federal agencies participating.
Among the biggest questions the commission must answer is what graduates would owe the government after completing the program.
The order specifically directs the commission to consider service obligations that could include service in the U.S. Armed Forces or in civilian federal positions.
That means the Space Academy would not necessarily function simply as a Space Force version of West Point or the Air Force Academy.
The commission must also determine applicant requirements, including potential citizenship, security-clearance, government-employment or military-status requirements.
Officials will develop recommendations for academic degrees, hands-on training, leadership programs, accreditation and the academy's permanent physical location.
The group must also determine what congressional legislation may be required before the academy can fully operate.
According to the White House, the broader goal is to build a new generation of astronauts, scientists, engineers, operators, entrepreneurs, civil servants and warfighters capable of advancing U.S. interests in space.
The order comes as the military increasingly treats space as a contested national-security domain and the commercial space industry continues to expand.
The U.S. Space Force currently draws many of its officers from existing commissioning sources, including the U.S. Air Force Academy, ROTC and Officer Training School.
A future Space Academy could potentially create another path for developing military and civilian space professionals, but its eventual relationship with the Space Force has not yet been determined.
The commission's recommendations are due within 120 days. Any final plan would still require presidential approval, potentially congressional action and available federal funding before it could be implemented.
Trump signed the order the same day he honored NASA's Artemis II astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen for their historic mission around the Moon.
The Artemis II crew traveled farther from Earth than any humans in history during their April mission, reaching 252,756 miles from the planet.
For now, the United States does not have a functioning Space Academy.
But Friday's order formally begins the process of deciding what one would look like, who could attend and whether its graduates could eventually owe military or federal service.
Sources: The White House; NASA; Reuters
(Source: The White House; NASA; Reuters)
