Trump Orders Creation of First US Space Academy

By Mintesinot Nigussie  |  August 29, 2026

President Donald Trump has ordered the creation of the first United States Space Academy, seeking to build a specialised pipeline of engineers, scientists, technicians and military and civilian personnel as Washington expands its ambitions in space.

Trump signed an executive order on Friday at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston directing the establishment of a Presidential Commission on the United States Space Academy. The commission will develop recommendations for the proposed institution, including its governance, location, legislative requirements and potential service obligations for graduates.

The commission has 120 days from the signing of the order to submit its report to the president.

The proposed academy is intended to combine technical education with leadership development, discipline and public-service training. The initiative comes as the US Space Force expands alongside a growing commercial space industry and the administration pursues plans for renewed lunar exploration and longer-term missions beyond the Moon.

“Given the rapid growth of the U.S. Space Force and commercial space industry, and the expansion of our ambitions to the Moon and far beyond the Moon, it’s clear we will need to educate and train an entire generation of skilled service members, engineers, and civil operators,” Trump said.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman will chair the commission, with NASA Deputy Administrator Matt Anderson serving as executive director. Michael Kratsios, the president’s assistant for science and technology, and Kevin Hassett, assistant to the president for economic policy, will serve as vice-chairs alongside representatives from the White House and other federal agencies.

Isaacman said the academy could train personnel needed for NASA’s planned return to the lunar surface and future development of lunar infrastructure and space-based economic activity.

“In the years ahead, we will return NASA astronauts to the lunar surface, build the Moon Base, get underway on nuclear power, ignite the orbital economy and launch more missions of science and discovery,” Isaacman said.

The proposal comes as space has become an increasingly strategic arena for US national security, technology and commercial investment. The administration has framed maintaining American leadership in space as a national priority, with government agencies increasingly working alongside private companies in launch services, satellite systems and exploration.

The new academy would add an education and workforce-development component to that strategy, although its institutional structure, funding, location and relationship with existing military academies and universities have yet to be determined.

The commission is expected to address those questions in its report, including the legal framework required to establish the academy and whether graduates would incur service obligations.

Trump signed the order during a visit to Johnson Space Center, where he also presented the Artemis II crew with the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

The initiative follows Trump's December 2025 executive order on ensuring American space superiority and an August 20, 2026 National Space Transportation Policy memorandum, extending the administration’s effort to strengthen US capabilities across the space sector.

Source: FSX Business News