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President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order to establish the U.S. Space Academy.
Trump said the location of the academy was yet to be determined, but compared its significance to that of the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., and the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn.
The U.S. Space Academy will be for students looking to enter the U.S. Space Force, a new branch of the military Trump created in his first term. Trump said it will also serve NASA and the civilian spaceflight industry.
“We’re going to have an academy for what the people in this room love the most. That’s exciting. That’s really exciting. And I’m going to be choosing a location very shortly,” Trump said during remarks at NASA’s Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
The other purpose of the event was to award the four Artemis II astronauts with the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. Behind Trump stood more than a dozen astronauts throughout the ceremony.
After signing the executive order, Trump presented the vaunted award, which was first given to Neil Armstrong in 1978, to all four members of the Artemis II crew.
The crew consists of NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, the mission commander; NASA astronaut Victor Glover, the pilot; NASA astronaut Christina Koch, a mission specialist; and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, also a mission specialist.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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