Trump announces creation of U.S. Space Academy

President Donald Trump announced the creation of the United States Space Academy on Friday, establishing an institution similar to those for the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

Speaking at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Trump stated the academy will educate and train a new generation of military personnel, engineers, civilian operators, and other qualified staff. "This is something I am enormously excited about, given the rapid growth of the space force and the commercial space industry, and the expansion of our ambitions to the Moon and far beyond," he said, signing an executive order to establish the academy. The institution will serve both NASA and the civilian space industry.

Trump highlighted the strategic importance of outer space, noting the United States' competition with China to send astronauts back to the Moon before 2030. He also acknowledged the role of the U.S. Space Force in recent military operations in Venezuela and Iran. The academy's location will be announced soon.

During the ceremony, Trump awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the Artemis II crew: Americans Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Jeremy Hansen. Their mission set a record, traveling over 406,000 km from Earth. The Artemis program aims to establish a lunar base and prepare for future Mars missions. Trump reiterated his commitment to seeing American astronauts return to the lunar surface before the end of his term, with the fourth Artemis mission targeted for 2028, though experts express concerns about the feasibility of this timeline given ongoing development of lunar landers.