<p class="wp-block-paragraph">President Donald Trump signed an executive order on August 28, 2026, establishing the U.S. Space Academy, aimed at training astronauts, engineers, scientists, and military personnel for future space exploration and defense.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The executive order creates a White House commission, chaired by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, with a 120-day timeline to propose the leadership structure, curriculum, and organizational details of the new academy.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“It’s clear we will need to educate and train an entire generation of skilled service members, engineers, and civil operators,” Trump stated during his visit to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Trump referenced his 2019 initiative to establish the U.S. Space Force as the sixth branch of the armed forces, emphasizing that the new academy aligns with the growth of the Space Force and the commercial space industry, as well as ambitions for lunar exploration.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“You think of West Point, and you think of Annapolis, and you think of the Air Force Academy, and you think of the Coast Guard academies. Great, they’re all great. But we’re going to have now a Space Force — we’re going to have an academy for what the people in this room love the most,” Trump remarked to the audience of astronauts.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">During the visit, Trump also awarded Congressional Space Medals of Honor to the Artemis II crew astronauts, who set a record for the farthest distance traveled from Earth as they flew around the moon. The award was presented to crew members Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Jeremy Hansen.</p>