US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday to establish the country’s first space academy and interacted with astronauts stationed at the International Space Station, during a visit to Nasa’s Mission Control in Houston.According to a Nasa press release, the proposed ‘US Space Academy’ intends to strengthen the nation’s space workforce and develop the next generation of space leaders.“Given the rapid growth of the US Space Force and commercial space industry, and the expansion of our ambitions to the Moon and far beyond the Moon, it’s clear we will need to educate and train an entire generation of skilled service members, engineers, and civil operators”, Trump said.Nasa administrator Jared Isaacman has been appointed as the chair of a new Presidential Commission on the United States Space Academy, while Nasa deputy administrator Matt Anderson will serve as the executive director.“In the years ahead, we will return Nasa astronauts to the lunar surface, build the Moon Base, get underway on nuclear power, ignite the orbital economy and launch more missions of science and discovery,” said Isaacman.On August 20, Trump signed the National Space Transportation Policy, a framework to guide safe, reliable, and affordable access to space for civil, commercial, and national security missions.In December 2025, Trump had also signed the Ensuring American Space Superiority, aiming to send American astronauts back to the Moon by 2028, build a permanent base on the Moon by 2030, and replace the old International Space Station with a commercial version by 2030.Trump also presented the Congressional Space Medal of Honour to the Artemis II mission crew, which travelled around the Moon in April and recorded the biggest distance from Earth for a manned space mission.Trump also interacted with the Nasa astronauts Jack Hathaway, Anil Menon, and Jessica Meir, who are part of Expedition 75 to the International Space Station.
