US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order establishing the country’s first space academy.
President Trump made the unexpected announcement Friday during an event honoring the four Artemis II crew members at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Texas. He described the training facility as a “huge deal” and said it would be “top line”.
Recommended stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
“I am signing an executive order to begin the process of creating a new national academy. It will be called the National Space Academy,” President Trump told the astronauts and NASA officials gathered to hear him speak.
President Trump likened the Space Academy to other prestigious U.S. military institutions, including the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. These schools, like universities, prepare a select number of young people in the United States to become officers in the nation’s military branches.
“They’re all great, but…we’re going to open an academy about what the people in this room love most,” Trump said. “It’s really exciting.”
The order also establishes a new presidential commission to “advise and assist” President Trump in establishing the academy.
The committee is chaired by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and includes senior administration officials, including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink, and Russ Vought of the White House Office of Management and Budget.
The president said the new academy’s graduates will go on to serve in the U.S. Space Force, NASA and the commercial aviation industry.
“We’re going to attract, train and graduate some of our nation’s best talent,” Trump added.
Space was a key priority during President Trump’s two terms in the White House. In December 2019, President Trump signed the Space Force Establishment Act, marking the creation of the sixth branch of the U.S. military.
“There is a grave threat to our national security,” President Trump said at the time. “Space Force helps deter invasion and control the ultimate high ground.”
At Friday’s ceremony, President Trump awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in Space to this year’s Artemis II crew members: NASA astronauts Reed Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
This medal is the highest honor for a U.S. civilian for spaceflight accomplishments.
In April, the crew of Artemis II orbited the far side of the moon, taking humanity further into space than ever before. The mission was an important step in the Trump administration’s plan to return astronauts to the moon by 2028.
President Trump said one of his talks this spring was interrupted by news about the crew’s efforts.
“I was in a very important meeting with some of the great people of this country,” Trump explained. “And someone said, ‘I want to see Artemis.’ I said, ‘Would you?’ Really?” ”
He added that he had suspended the meeting to comply with the request. “Everyone was fascinated because there was an actual television set.”
At Friday’s event, the Artemis II crew also presented President Trump with a gift: a blue flight jacket emblazoned with the NASA logo.
“Mr. President, when we went to your office and you were so kind to us and you gave us gifts and so much time, we were talking about giving you this blue flight jacket,” Glover told Trump. “So, today I’d like to introduce you to the jacket.”
However, the future of the Artemis exploration program remains uncertain.
In May, an unmanned Blue Origin rocket exploded at a launch facility in Cape Canaveral, Florida, causing damage to the site. The incident raised questions about NASA’s readiness for future missions.
The Artemis III mission was originally expected to return humans to the moon. But in February, NASA scrapped that plan and announced that Artemis III would instead focus on conducting training in Earth orbit to ensure the safety of future moon missions.
The mission will practice docking with a lunar module model from private company Blue Origin and SpaceX.
In June, NASA announced a new crew for the two-week Artemis III mission scheduled for next year.
