President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday launching the process of establishing a U.S. Space Academy, a new federal institution that could educate future Space Force Guardians alongside NASA engineers, scientists and other federal space professionals.

Trump announced the academy Aug. 28 during a visit to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, comparing it with the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the Naval Academy in Annapolis and the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.

But Trump did not create another military service academy outright. His order establishes a presidential commission with 120 days to recommend how the academy would operate, where it could be located, what obligations graduates would have and what action Congress would need to take.

It’s called the U.S. Space Academy. That’s a big deal, Trump said during the event.

A New Path Into the Space Force

The proposal could have significant implications for how the relatively young Space Force develops its future workforce.

Currently, Space Force officers can commission through existing programs, including the U.S. Air Force Academy, ROTC and Officer Training School. Unlike the Army, Navy and Air Force, the military’s newest branch has never had an academy of its own.

The proposed Space Academy would be different from traditional service academies because its graduates could enter either military or civilian federal service.

The White House said the academy is intended to help prepare the next generation of “astronauts, scientists, engineers, operators, entrepreneurs, civil servants, and war fighters” for the expanding U.S. space enterprise.

Trump said the school would serve the Space Force as well as NASA and the civilian space sector.

The distinction could make the institution more similar to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy than West Point. NASA Deputy Administrator Matt Anderson told the Houston Chronicle that the vision is for a taxpayer-funded, full-scholarship program whose graduates would incur a service commitment.

Most graduates are expected to enter civilian federal service, Anderson said, while others could have a pathway into the Space Force.

What We Know About the Space Academy So Far

Many of the details still have to be determined, but Trump’s executive order establishes the broad framework:

• NASA will lead the planning. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman will chair the Presidential Commission on the United States Space Academy.
• The commission has 120 days. It must recommend a governance structure, curriculum, degree programs, applicant requirements, graduate service obligations and a process for choosing a permanent location.
• Graduates could serve in uniform or as civilians. The commission must develop recommendations for service obligations that could include the Armed Forces or civilian federal service.
• The location hasn’t been selected. Trump said Friday that a location would be chosen “very shortly.”
• Congress may still be needed. The commission must identify legislation necessary to implement its recommendations, and the order says implementation remains subject to federal law and available funding.

The executive order describes the Space Academy as a “NASA-led Federal academy” combining technical education with leadership development, discipline and public service.

The commission will include the secretary of the Air Force and other senior administration officials, along with representatives from across the federal government.

Congress Could Determine What Happens Next

The 120-day review means some of the most consequential questions about the academy remain unanswered.

Among them are how students would be admitted, what degrees would be offered, how large the school would become and whether graduates entering the Space Force would receive commissions in the same way graduates of existing service academies do.

There is also the question of cost.

The executive order directs the commission to determine which portions of the plan can be carried out using existing executive authority and which would require congressional action. Implementation is also explicitly subject to available appropriations.

That means Friday’s announcement begins the process, rather than guaranteeing when or in what form the Space Academy will ultimately open its doors.

Location could become one of the first major political fights surrounding the school.

Trump acknowledged Friday that lawmakers were already lobbying for the academy to come to their states.

A New Academy for America’s Newest Military Service

The proposal represents another step in the development of America’s military presence in space.

Trump signed legislation creating the Space Force in December 2019, establishing the first new branch of the armed forces in more than seven decades.

The Space Force has since grown without developing its own standalone academy. Instead, future Guardians can enter the service through existing commissioning pipelines, particularly the Air Force Academy.

The new institution would not necessarily change that system. The commission’s recommendations will determine how closely the Space Academy resembles West Point or the Air Force Academy and how much of its mission is instead devoted to building NASA and the broader federal space workforce.

That hybrid mission could ultimately be what makes the proposed academy different from every existing service academy.

Seven years after creating the Space Force, Trump is now pushing the federal government to determine whether America’s expanding military and civilian presence in space needs an academy of its own.

The first answers are due within 120 days.