President Donald Trump said he is creating a U.S. Space Academy to join the nation’s other military service academies — but this one is focused on training officers who will be involved in the nation’s space missions.
Read more Trees are coming down by the dozen as Trump’s D.C. golf makeover nears
Trump made the announcement Friday at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, where he traveled to present the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to astronauts from the Artemis II crew that flew by the moon in April.
Trump said he has yet to decide a location for the Space Academy. The school will serve the Space Force, the sixth and newest branch of the military that he created during his first term, as well as NASA and the growing civilian spaceflight industry. He said he will choose a spot “shortly,” noting fierce lobbying behind the scenes and hinting that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who was in the audience, had been among those with an opinion.
Read more Trump suggests cattle ranchers could bypass USDA-inspected meat plants
“It’ll attract, train and graduate the very best of our nation,” Trump said, later adding that the U.S. needs to “educate and train an entire generation of skilled service members, engineers and civil operators” for the “expansion of our ambitions to the moon and far beyond the moon.”
Catch up quickly every weekday morning with a rundown of the 7 most important and interesting stories. Sign up for The 7 newsletter.
