Trump Tasks NASA to Start Space Academy: What to Know

The United States is getting a Space Academy.

Joining the ranks of West Point, the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy, and the Merchant Marine Academy, the United States Space Academy will provide America’s rising generations a direct pathway to the space industry, specifically as a means of serving their nation.

Its impending creation was mandated by an executive order signed and publicly announced by President Donald Trump on Aug. 28, during a visit to Johnson Space Center in Houston.

“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.

The order puts NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman in charge of a commission that had 120 days from the Aug. 28 signing to submit a report proposing key details of how this academy will operate. Those details include curriculum, application and acceptance processes, graduates’ service obligations, and “the process for selection of the permanent physical location of the Space Academy appropriate for the chosen governance framework.”

While officials are working on the report, here’s what is known so far, based on comments made by Trump and Isaacman, and information shared in the executive order.

NASA, Not Space Force, Will Lead

Trump’s executive order explicitly states that it will be led by NASA, with administrator Jared Isaacman serving as the chair of a presidential commission to get it started.

The United States’ national academies are known for their direct military affiliations. There’s West Point in Orange County, New York, which is run by the U.S. Army; the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland; and the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. All of these academies fall under the Department of War. Graduation from any of them comes with a period of required service in the respective branch.

However, the Space Academy will operate under the civilian leadership of NASA, the legacy space agency. Isaacman envisions many, but not all, of its graduates enlisting in the U.S. Space Force.

The U.S. Space Force is the newest unique branch of the armed forces, and was established during Trump’s first term. His enthusiasm for its expansion has continued through his second term, even recently unveiling new dress uniforms for the Guardians that appear straight out of a science fiction movie.

“The Nation must prepare the next generation of astronauts, scientists, engineers, operators, entrepreneurs, civil servants, and warfighters and ensure that they are capable of advancing American interests in space,” he said in the executive order.

Speaking with reporters after the launch of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on Aug. 30, Isaacman said that the new Space Academy “will train engineers, explorers, pioneers, astronauts, and leaders of this exciting future we all imagine in space.”

But he expected it to operate more like the Merchant Marine Academy than academies under the War Department. 

“Graduates have their choice to actually go to industry and have a reserve commitment back to the merchant marines,” he explained. “They can certainly go into other government service, or like Mark Kelly, for example, you could go into the Navy and then become an astronaut someday.”

“I think when you look at what is envisioned with the Space Academy, which will be under NASA, you can see that’s by design from the get-go with the commission that’s been established for it,” he added. “That this will be where potentially, you know, hundreds of new NASA civil servants come in to join the space agency every year, and they would also have the option to perhaps go into the Space Force or elsewhere.”

Isaacman’s presidential commission held its first meeting on Sept. 9, and laid out a timeline that called for groundbreaking on the academy’s construction no later than 2027, temporarily hosting the first 300 students in 2028, and having an operational permanent location by 2031.

Satisfying a Need

Since manned spaceflight began in the United States, astronauts have primarily come from the existing branches of the military, especially the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force. 

The first serviceman in the United States Space Force to cross into space was Col. Nick Hague, who flew to and aboard the International Space Station with NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission from Sept. 28, 2024 to March 18, 2025.

Civilian astronauts have also been a major factor in the history of spaceflight. However, they all came to NASA after working in some relevant field, from test pilot programs to various scientific disciplines, and they all had to find their own way into America’s space program. The same situation applied to all of NASA’s engineers, flight controllers, scientists, and every other crucial element of space exploration that never leaves the ground.

Now, the Trump administration is seeking to build a direct track to that career, which Isaacman sees as a necessity to ensure more and more people have a dedicated path to an industry about to boom.

“Why do we need it? It’s the same answer as why did we create an Air Force Academy when that whole new domain really opened up after World War II,” he said. 

Unlike the Air Force Academy, though, the space academy’s founding would not be based on conflict, but rather on the reality that space launches in the United States are about to jump in number to possibly thousands in a single year.

“There is no doubt this domain will continue to open for commercial, scientific, economic, and obviously national security reasons too,” Isaacman added. “But I think this is really exciting. It’s going to be great for America and the future of our space program.”

Space Academy on Space Coast?

Isaacman also affirmed that this space academy would be a physical institution. But where that institution will be built has yet to be determined. 

Florida lawmakers in both houses filed a joint letter to Trump and Isaacman on Sept. 3, making their case that the Space Academy should call the Space Coast its home.

“There is no better place to train the next generation of American space leaders than the state that has launched generations of Americans to the stars,” Florida Congressman Mike Haridopolos said in a statement. “Florida has the infrastructure, the universities, the workforce, and the unmatched experience to make the United States Space Academy a success.” 

Rep. Haridopolos is the chairman of the House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, and he led the bipartisan appeal from his fellow Floridians in both houses.

Florida lawmakers highlighted that their state was more than just a launch pad. It was home to an “increasingly interconnected space ecosystem” that includes NASA, the Space Force, the War Department, and a booming commercial space industry that includes SpaceX, Blue Origin, and United Launch Alliance. 

However, the Sunshine State will have to apply like every other state. NASA published a Request for Information form on Sept. 10. Governors and their designees have until 6 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 26, to submit their application to become the academy’s host state. Information requested includes location information, the site’s readiness, and environmental and regulatory considerations.