To The Moon

The United States is planning to establish a "Space Academy" dedicated to training specialized personnel for government space positions, with its educational model benchmarked against historic military institutions such as the U.S. Air Force Academy and the Coast Guard Academy. On Friday, President Trump attended an event at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and signed an executive order formally creating the U.S. "Space Academy." According to the White House, the new institution aims to supply talent for a variety of roles within NASA, military space agencies, and private space enterprises.

Speaking about the "Space Academy," Trump stated: "Clearly, we need to cultivate an entire generation of technical soldiers, engineers, civilian space operations personnel, and various other professionals." He drew a comparison between the academy and the military institution West Point, located in New York, but did not disclose a location for the new academy. The "Space Academy" will be led and operated by NASA, offering both technical education and leadership training programs.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman will chair a special presidential committee responsible for providing policy recommendations to the President regarding the establishment of the academy. Since assuming office as NASA Administrator last December, Isaacman has placed significant emphasis on rebuilding the agency's workforce. He has pushed to convert outsourced contract employees into permanent NASA civil servants, arguing that the agency needs to rebuild its in-house technical capabilities. NASA has also launched a talent program called "NASA Force," which recruits personnel for positions typically lasting one to two years. Last year, NASA experienced workforce attrition, with some employees being laid off, while a significant number chose retirement or accepted voluntary buyout packages.

The establishment of the "Space Academy" represents the latest policy initiative from the White House regarding U.S. orbital space activities. Earlier this month, President Trump signed a policy memorandum requiring U.S. spaceports to be capable of supporting more than 1,000 rocket launches and spacecraft re-entry missions annually by 2030. In July, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration released a proposal aimed at reducing environmental review requirements for various space-related activities. This presidential committee, led by the NASA Administrator to establish the "Space Academy," will also include senior government officials or their representatives in its deliberations, including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the Secretary of the Air Force.

Trump's signing ceremony for this executive order on Friday was themed around celebrating the historic successful completion of NASA's Artemis 2 lunar flyby mission earlier this year. During the event, each astronaut who participated in the mission was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.