Trump Signs Executive Order to Establish U.S. Space Academy

<p>President Donald Trump on August 28, 2026, signed an executive order to establish the U.S. Space Academy. The location of the academy has not yet been determined, but Trump compared its significance to that of the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, and the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut.</p><p>The U.S. Space Academy is intended for students aspiring to join the U.S. Space Force, a military branch established during Trump's first term. It will also support NASA and the civilian spaceflight industry.</p><p>During remarks at NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, Trump stated, "We're going to have an academy for what the people in this room love the most. That's exciting. That's really exciting. And I'm going to be choosing a location very shortly."</p><p>The event also included the awarding of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the four astronauts of the Artemis II mission. More than a dozen astronauts were present during Trump's remarks.</p><p>After signing the executive order, Trump presented the award to the Artemis II crew, which includes NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman as mission commander, NASA astronaut Victor Glover as pilot, NASA astronaut Christina Koch as mission specialist, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen as mission specialist.</p><p>Trump described the crew members as "great people" and expressed gratitude to the engineers and scientists involved in the Artemis II mission. Wiseman acknowledged Trump's presence, stating, "Mr. President, it means a lot that you are here at the Johnson Space Center. It underscores the important work that is going on here in Mission Control, in furthering human exploration."</p><p>The Artemis II astronauts launched aboard the Orion spacecraft on April 1, 2026, and spent nearly 10 days traveling around the moon before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean on April 10. Their mission took them as far as 252,756 miles from Earth, further than any humans had traveled before.</p><p>Unlike previous moon missions, the Artemis II team did not land on the lunar surface; their mission focused on testing the spacecraft and systems for future lunar landings. NASA has indicated that this mission serves as a stepping stone for Artemis III, scheduled for 2027, which will involve a series of tests in Earth's orbit, followed by Artemis IV in early 2028, aimed at sending astronauts to the lunar South Pole.</p><p>The overall goal of the Artemis program is to establish a long-term human presence on the moon and eventually send astronauts to Mars.</p><p>Trump stated, "America has always been a frontier nation, and space is the highest of all the frontiers. Our manifest destiny is to explore and settle this great unknown. Americans were the first in flight, the first to the moon and will certainly be the first in space, no matter where it is. And I know we're going to be looking at Mars very shortly."</p><p>He also announced that NASA has begun work on the first nuclear-powered interplanetary spacecraft, intended for the planned 2028 mission to Mars. Trump explained, "They have to go nuclear because they have essentially unlimited fuel. You don't have to fill up the tanks. This ship will be among the first of what will ultimately be a massive American Star fleet, making space travel almost as common as ocean travel today and bringing our military to a new level of excellence."</p><p>Throughout his speech, Trump criticized previous administrations for allowing U.S. space programs to decline, particularly the Obama administration, stating, "we even lost our ability to send astronauts into orbit at all. We had no ability in space whatsoever. We totally lost it with everything we spent, with all of the talent and all of the genius and all of the money, we had nothing."</p><p>He concluded by asserting, "Before the end of my term, American astronauts will return to the lunar surface. And when we do, they'll plant this very important flag to mark the site of the first permanent American settlement on the moon."</p>