Donald Trump signs executive order creating US Space Academy during Houston ceremony
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday to establish a national Space Academy to train personnel for NASA, the Space Force, and the commercial aerospace sector.
Establishment of the academy
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on 28 August 2026 at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, initiating the creation of a national U.S. Space Academy. The proposed institution is designed to educate and train military personnel, engineers, and civilian operators for the U.S. Space Force, NASA, and the commercial aerospace sector. During the announcement, Trump compared the concept to existing military service institutions, specifically the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the Naval Academy at Annapolis, the Air Force Academy, and the Coast Guard Academy. The permanent location of the new academy remains undecided and will be announced at a later date.
I will sign an executive order to begin the process of creating a new national academy. It's called the U.S. Space Academy. That's a big deal.
Commission structure and legislative hurdles
The executive order forms an eight-member presidential commission tasked with submitting recommendations and key organizational details for the academy within 120 days. The advisory panel will be chaired by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and includes Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink, and White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought. Establishing and funding the academy will require approval from the U.S. Congress. Currently, Space Force officers receive primary training at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado. The initiative follows broader recruitment and workforce pressures across the aerospace sector, where commercial firms such as SpaceX and Blue Origin compete for specialized personnel. A 2025 government report indicated that the Space Force fell 25% short of its congressionally mandated personnel targets.
- U.S. Space Force established as the sixth military branch
- Artemis II crew completes 10-day lunar orbit mission
- Executive order signed to establish the U.S. Space Academy
- Target year for U.S. crewed lunar landing
- Target deadline for China crewed lunar landing
Artemis II crew honors
During the Houston ceremony, Trump presented the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the four crew members of the Artemis II mission: NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, alongside Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. In April 2026, the crew completed a 10-day flight that circumnavigated the far side of the Moon before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. Their spacecraft reached a distance of more than 406,000 kilometers from Earth, marking the farthest distance traveled by humans. NASA Deputy Administrator Col. Matt Anderson addressed attendees at the event, praising the administration's policy direction.
President Trump ignited the golden age of exploration and discovery. He gave us the vision.
Strategic context and lunar timeline
The creation of the academy builds on the establishment of the U.S. Space Force in December 2019 as the sixth branch of the armed forces. Trump noted the service branch's involvement in recent U.S. military operations in Iran and Venezuela. The administration is pursuing a crewed lunar landing targeted for 2028, with longer-term goals including a permanent presence near lunar water ice reserves and future crewed missions to Mars. This timeline places the United States in direct competition with China, which has stated goals to land astronauts on the Moon before 2030.
