HOUSTON—President Donald Trump announced the creation of a U.S. Space Academy Friday while honoring the Artemis II astronauts at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
Trump said the new academy would train future members of the U.S. Space Force while also serving NASA and the civilian spaceflight industry.
“You think of West Point, and you think of Annapolis, and you think of the Air Force Academy, and you think of the Coast Guard Academy,” Trump said. “We’re going to have now the Space Force. We’re going to have an academy for what the people in this room love the most.”
Trump signed an executive order beginning the process of establishing the academy during the event.
The president said a location would be selected “very shortly,” joking that lawmakers in attendance were already interested in where it would be built.
“Everybody wants it because it’s the hot thing,” Trump said. “Space is the hot thing.”
Trump also recognized several prominent Texas Republicans in attendance, including U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and Comptroller Don Huffines.
The announcement came as Trump traveled to Houston to award the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the four members of the Artemis II crew: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen.
Only 30 astronauts had previously received the honor, with Trump noting past recipients including Neil Armstrong, John Glenn, and Alan Shepard.
The Artemis II crew launched from Kennedy Space Center in April, traveling around the Moon before returning to Earth. Trump said the astronauts traveled more than 250,000 miles from Earth, farther than any humans before them.
Trump also recalled watching the Artemis II mission while he was in the middle of an important meeting.
According to Trump, someone asked if he wanted to watch the mission, prompting a television to be brought in as those gathered became “spellbound.”
“We watched every minute of it,” Trump said. “In fact, the meeting was a disaster because after that was over, they were so excited, nobody did anything.”
“So it was a total waste of time,” he joked. “But what can I tell you? It really brought spirit.”
Trump also laid out an ambitious vision for the next stage of the American space program, pledging that astronauts would return to the lunar surface before the end of his term.
“When we do, they’ll plant this very important flag to mark the site of the first permanent American settlement on the moon,” Trump said.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said Artemis III is expected to launch next year, followed by Artemis IV in 2028, which he said would bring American astronauts back to the lunar surface.
“This time, we are going back to stay,” Isaacman said.
Isaacman also said NASA plans to launch robotic landers and rovers as it works toward establishing a permanent presence on the Moon.
Trump’s visit to Johnson Space Center came one day after he attended an RNC fundraiser Thursday night in Houston that was reportedly held to benefit Attorney General Ken Paxton’s U.S. Senate campaign.
The president’s trip will not be his last to Texas in the coming weeks.
Trump will return to the Lone Star State in less than two weeks for the Republican National Committee’s Midterm Convention in Dallas, where Republicans will gather ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Before departing Johnson Space Center, Trump also spoke by phone with astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
