US President Donald Trump announced Friday the creation of a national academy in the United States dedicated to training future recruits for NASA and the country’s space military forces.
“I will sign an executive order launching the process of creating a new national academy. It will be called the United States Space Academy (US Space Academy),” he said during a medal presentation ceremony at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
“This is something very important,” the White House occupant said, adding that the new institution will aim to “attract, train and graduate the best talent our country has to offer.”
The academy will serve NASA as well as the private space industry and the United States Space Force, the sixth branch of the US Armed Forces, which Trump established during his first term in office, he said.
The location of the new institution has not yet been determined.
The announcement comes as space has taken on an increasingly central role in strategic rivalries, particularly in the military and technological spheres.
The US administration has openly described its efforts as a “second space race” with Beijing, drawing a parallel with the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
The two rival powers are seeking to send astronauts to the Moon by 2030 and establish a base there.
