United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order establishing the country\u2019s first-ever Space Academy.<\/p>\n
On Friday during an event honoring the four-person Artemis II crew<\/a> at NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center in Texas, Trump made the unexpected announcement. He described the training facility as \u201ca big deal\u201d and said it would be \u201ctop line\u201d.<\/p>\n Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n \u201cI \u2060will sign an executive order \u2060to begin the process of creating a new national \u200cacademy. It\u2019s called the US Space Academy,\u201d Trump \u200ctold the astronauts and NASA employees who gathered to hear him speak.<\/p>\n Trump likened the space academy to other prestigious US service institutions, like the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and the US Military Academy in West Point, New York. Those schools, similar to colleges, prepare a select number of young adults in the US to become officers in the country\u2019s military branches.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re all great. But \u2026 we\u2019re gonna have an academy for what the people in this room love the most,\u201d Trump said. \u201cThat\u2019s really exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n The order also establishes a new presidential commission that would \u201cadvise and assist\u201d Trump in the academy\u2019s creation.<\/p>\n This commission will be led by NASA administrator Jared Isaacman and include top administration officials, among them Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink and Russ Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget.<\/p>\n The president said graduates of the new academy would serve the US Space Force, NASA and the civilian flight industry.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019ll attract, train and graduate the very best of our nation,\u201d Trump added.<\/p>\n Space has been a significant priority during Trump\u2019s two terms in the White House. In December 2019, Trump signed into law a bill establishing the Space Force, marking the creation of the US military\u2019s sixth branch.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are grave threats to our national security,\u201d Trump said at the time. \u201cThe Space Force will help us deter aggression and control the ultimate high ground.\u201d<\/p>\n At Friday\u2019s ceremony, Trump presented the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to each of the four members of this year\u2019s Artemis II crew: NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.<\/p>\n The medal is the highest civilian honour in the US for achievement in space flight.<\/p>\n In April, the Artemis II crew looped around the far side of the moon, taking humans further into space than ever before. The mission was an important step in the Trump administration\u2019s plan to return astronauts to the moon by 2028.<\/p>\n Trump said one of his meetings this past spring was interrupted by news of the crew\u2019s endeavours.<\/p>\n \u201cI was at a very important meeting with the biggest people in the country,\u201d Trump explained. \u201cAnd somebody said, \u2018I\u2019d like to watch Artemis.\u2019 I said, \u2018You would? Really?’\u201d<\/p>\n He added that he paused the meeting to accommodate the request. \u201cWe actually had a television pulled up, and everybody was spellbound.\u201d<\/p>\n At Friday\u2019s event, the Artemis II crew also presented Trump with a gift: a blue flight jacket with the NASA logo.<\/p>\n \u201cMr President, when we were in your office and you were so gracious to us \u2013 lavishing us with gifts and so much of your time \u2013 we had mentioned getting you one of these blue flight jackets,\u201d Glover said to Trump. \u201cAnd so here we have your jacket today.\u201d<\/p>\n But the future of the Artemis exploration initiative remains unclear.<\/p>\n