Trump signs executive order to establish 'American Space Academy'

NASA works on first nuclear-powered interplanetary spacecraft for a 2028 launch

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday to begin establishing a new space academy, modeled after West Point and other prestigious US military service academies, according to Reuters.

Trump said the academy would be named the “American Space Academy,” adding, “This is a very big subject.”

The announcement came during Trump’s visit to NASA’s Johnson Space Center, where he honored the Artemis 2 mission crew by awarding them the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

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He clarified that the academy would help train military personnel, engineers, and civilian technicians needed as the US Space Force and the commercial space sector grow, expanding Washington’s ambitions on the Moon and beyond.

Trump said, “A nation cannot be first on Earth if it is second in space. That is not going to happen. Things simply don’t work that way.”

He added that NASA has begun work on what he described as the first nuclear-powered interplanetary spacecraft, expected to launch on a mission to Mars in 2028.

He noted that this spacecraft could be the first in a larger US fleet aimed at making space travel more accessible.