Trump Ignites Space Race With China, Launches New U.S. Space Academy
U.S. President Donald Trump announced Friday the creation of a national academy to train future recruits for the U.S. space agency NASA and the Space Force, amid growing competition in the sector, particularly with China, according to Agence France-Presse.
Speaking during a medal ceremony at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Trump said: “I will sign an executive order to begin the process of creating a new national academy. It will be called the United States Space Academy.”
“This academy is very important,” Trump added. “Its mission will be to recruit the best talent our country has to offer, train them and graduate them.”
Trump said the institution would serve NASA, the private space sector and the U.S. Space Force, the sixth branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, which he established during his first term.
The U.S. president did not specify where the academy would be located.
The announcement comes as the space sector has become increasingly central to strategic competition, particularly in the military and technological spheres.
The Trump administration has openly declared that it is engaged in a “second space race” against Beijing, echoing the Cold War-era rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Washington and Beijing are both seeking to send astronauts to the Moon by 2030 and establish a base there.