Trump Announces New US Space Academy to Rival West Point and Annapolis

President Donald Trump announced plans to create a new U.S. Space Academy designed to attract and train the country’s top students for careers with the Space Force, NASA and the civilian spaceflight industry.

Trump unveiled the initiative during a medal ceremony at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The ceremony honored the Artemis II astronauts who traveled around the moon last spring.

Speaking about America’s “manifest destiny” in space exploration, Trump tied the new academy to his first-term creation of the U.S. Space Force, the sixth branch of the Armed Forces.

“For this reason in my first term, I created the sixth branch of the United States Armed Forces, Space Force,” Trump said. “And today I have another historic announcement to make.”

Trump said the expansion of the Space Force, rapid growth of the commercial space industry and increasing American ambitions involving the moon and destinations beyond it have created a demand for a new generation of highly trained workers.

The president said the country will need skilled service members, engineers, civilian operators and others to meet its expanding space goals.
Trump announced that he would sign an executive order beginning the process of establishing the academy.
“It’s called the U.S. Space Academy,” Trump said. “That’s a big deal.”

The president compared the proposed academy to the nation’s existing service academies, including the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, the Air Force Academy and the Coast Guard Academy.

“They’re all great,” Trump said.

Trump said his administration would select a location for the new institution “very shortly,” but did not identify any potential sites during the announcement.
The academy would serve several parts of the country’s growing space operations rather than focusing solely on one military branch.

“It will serve both the United States Space Force, as well as NASA, and the civilian spaceflight industry,” Trump said.

The president said the academy would seek to attract, educate and graduate the best students the nation has to offer. He insisted that the new school must meet the same high standards associated with America’s established military academies.

“I’ll do it, but it’s got to be top line,” Trump recalled saying. “It’s got to be the equivalent of the others, which are great.”

Trump also highlighted the difficulty students face when applying to the current service academies, arguing that admission can be even more competitive than entry into Ivy League institutions.

“You talk about the Ivy League schools; it’s tougher to get into West Point, Annapolis, the Air Force Academy, Coast Guard, too,” Trump said.

The executive order will begin the academy’s creation process, while the administration moves toward choosing a location and developing an institution intended to support America’s military, government and commercial ambitions in space.