HOUSTON (Reuters) — US President Donald Trump signed an order on Friday creating a US Space Academy, billing it as a new military and civilian institution modeled after West Point and other military service academies.
The proposed academy would build on Trump’s space agenda, which he and White House officials have described as a key component of his legacy. Trump launched the US Space Force as a sixth branch of the military during his first term, has attended multiple NASA launches and now aims to return Americans to the moon and eventually reach Mars.
An eight-member commission, led by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, will advise the president on launching the institution, which Trump’s proclamation said would “develop a professional corps of civically grounded leaders prepared to advance American interests within the space domain.”
“Space is the hot thing,” the president told the crowd.
Speaking at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Trump said he would choose the location for the academy “very shortly,” and hinted that the Texas congressional delegation in attendance wanted the institution in the Lone Star State.
