U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on August 28, 2026, to establish the U.S. Space Academy, a new institution modeled after West Point and other major U.S. military academies. The announcement was made during a visit to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, where Trump also awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the Artemis 2 crew.
The academy is intended to train military personnel, engineers, and civilian operators as the U.S. Space Force expands and the commercial space sector grows. The move aligns with Washington’s broader ambitions to extend U.S. presence beyond Earth, including missions to the Moon and Mars.
During the event, Trump highlighted NASA’s progress on a nuclear-powered interplanetary spacecraft, slated for a Mars mission in 2028. He described the initiative as part of a larger effort to make space travel routine, emphasizing the strategic importance of U.S. leadership in space. "A nation cannot be first on Earth if we are going to be second in space," Trump stated. "It simply won't happen."
