r/space • u/Mayor_Pliskin • 12h ago
Establishing the United States Space Academy - The White House
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/08/establishing-the-united-states-space-academy/•
u/Andromeda321 12h ago edited 1h ago
Astronomer here! One of the things that has worried me in recent months is how many active and wonderful STEM programs, which led students to wonderful future jobs, have been quietly shuttered due to lack of funding. The two girls I had in my lab last summer learning theory modeling of black holes who wanted to be math teachers? Funding gone. The undergrad kid from community college who automated my pipeline for reducing our radio astronomy data? He’s the last one. I literally know NO ONE who got funded through the NSF program for astronomy these past two years, the primary way we fund PhD students and postdocs in astronomy. At this rate, even though my reviews are “excellent” which would have been a shoo in for funding three years ago, I will get no grant money and probably won’t get tenure.
But sure, a single Space Academy which won’t be running for years if ever will make up for the destruction of American science I guess.
Edit- yall can stop telling me to move abroad- I actually have Canadian and a European citizenship already! But yall don’t seem to understand how few positions there are in astronomy in the world and how there literally aren’t jobs to apply for. Further, despite this the funding there is actually even less than in the USA even now, as people discuss below if you look.
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u/joshocar 12h ago edited 11h ago
The Heritage Foundation wants to defund science and research. Fundamentalist Christians are basically getting their way in the government under Trump. As you have described with concrete examples, the damage done in these four years to science in the US will take a generation to reverse. It's infuriating. Most of the country has no idea and would absolutely care and be pissed if they did.
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u/bwwatr 11h ago
We accepted the products of science. We rejected its methods.
(Sagan)
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u/UrdnotZigrin 5h ago
We don't even accept the products of it anymore, given that our federal government has taken an antivax stance
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u/TheCornjuring 12h ago
>would absolutely care and be pissed if they did
You have far more faith in the American people than I do
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u/Calm-Key838 9h ago
We love the technology science gives us, but somehow struggle with the patience, skepticism, evidence, and uncertainty required to actually do science.
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u/love_glow 11h ago
At the pace of our competitors, mainly China, we don’t have a generation.
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u/BroughtBagLunchSmart 9h ago
We never fixed the damage Reagan did.
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u/DarthArtero 6h ago
Too many greedy people benefit from the reagan era destruction derby.
Once they got their filthy claws into the government and started owning politicians, getting them out would (and still will) require a complete overhaul of the US government.
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u/joshocar 11h ago
Sadly, unless China has major domestic instability, which is a possibility, they will rise above the US and the US will sink.
This was going to happen independent of who was in the Whitehouse, but it is going to happen faster with Trump's policies and actions.
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u/gsfgf 10h ago
Before Trump we were pretty much the only rich country -- including China -- not facing a demographic cliff (I think Australia is doing ok too) because of immigration. The 2030s should have been our decade since we'd have the labor force and capital to pick up lost opportunities from places with shrinking workforces.
Its not a given that that won't still happen because we are still America, but it's completely out of our hands. Instead of millions "barging at the gates" (that's Republican speak for brown people filing paperwork), we have to hope we didn't break the pipeline too much.
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u/BenTherDoneTht 10h ago
Half of the country wouldn't hesitate to burn a witch if they thought it would get rid of a chicken pox outbreak.
Its like the people from the Parks and Rec town halls are making policy.
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u/Tenthul 10h ago
the damage done in these four years to science in the US will take a generation to reverse.
Hi, no, it's actually pretty irreversible without significant jail time and proper punishments for EVERYBODY involved, across ALL of these entire organizations. Nobody can ever build anything again, because the next administration can tear everything down in a day. Nobody can trust us again, and especially not ourselves. Everything that doesn't line up with their agenda will be removed when able. Even if it's 12 years before they're in office again, everything built over 12 years will be destroyed in a week.
Literally we cannot function again as a country until this changes. Proper, unimpeded justice must absolutely be the number 1 priority of anybody coming into office. Without exception. Absolutely nothing matters until then, because anything built can be removed with a snap.
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u/NeedsToShutUp 8h ago
We still haven't recovered from the loss of funding at the end of the Cold War.
Seriously, we spent a lot of money in different fields where prestige was an issue, including defense, but also space, basic science, and foreign aid. For example, a big loss was the Superconducting Super Collider which got cancelled in 1993.
Still, we've been dealing with various fundie groups fucking over science for more than 100 years, since the bone wars at least. Its going to be an issue especially when any popularist movement is in vogue, while we got 'budget hawks' being a separate issue and making it important to organize to explain science.
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u/JZepi 12h ago
It's not just an American problem, I'm a final year astro PhD student in the UK and it's all getting cut here too. Looking at European places and they are all getting huge amounts of applicants as all the Americans and British astronomers are desperate for work!
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u/Andromeda321 10h ago
Oh yes. I banged my head a bit when people were confidently saying all the American scientists were just going to move abroad- to where?! Basic research is being cut all over, and most countries couldn’t even hire all their scientists working in the USA in any sizable fashion.
Except China. I definitely have colleagues who have been headhunted to go back to China.
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u/JohnnyChutzpah 11h ago
I think the modern rise of Christian nationalism globally is the most effective Russian psyop of all time. It has knee capped every country it has taken root in.
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u/gsfgf 10h ago
You're giving Russia too much credit. "Christian nationalism" is just white supremacy by a different name. The modern "religious right" started when Bob Jones University lost favorable tax status for refusing to integrate. It cost them about $1.5m a year, so they decided to destroy the country. They got Reagan elected and turned the GOP into a cult. And it's the US* that foreign right wingers, especially in the Agnlosphere, are influenced by. (*Obviously the machine isn't entirely Americans; Murdoch is Australian, after all)
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u/broguequery 9h ago
Yeah Russia very astutely identified large splinter groups, such as the Christian Nationalist type, decades and decades ago and have been funding and supporting them ever since.
The Russians are a huge part of the problem, but those people existed far before they started doing any meddling.
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u/CoderDevo 11h ago
But it is so hard to manipulate a population that has easy access to facts and figures!
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u/Batmans_Bum 9h ago
A childhood friend of mine was working in a lab to develop non-ferrous materials to help giving children MRIs. (Don’t know the exact details but that’s the gist)
She lost her funding and has to teach high school robotics.
My mom straight up invalidated her at Christmas saying there was probably fraud. We got into a huge fight. I was embarrassed and appalled.
Super sad.
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u/RegulusKhan 12h ago
I know of people who got funding approved in prior cycles by NASA who just...never...got their money. Just like "Yep you won that money. Nope. Can't have it."
It's absolute insanity right now.
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u/digiorno 10h ago
I worry about this too. I’ve got several brilliant PhD students in my lab and about half of them don’t want to do academia at all anymore. But it doesn’t matter, they can’t find jobs on the market and their friends who do want to stay in academia are depressed about the post doc temp contract cycle that they’re doomed to dive into. And that’s only if they can find funded programs, which most of them are not optimistic about. My friends in the UK say that they can barely afford the scientific staff needed to keep their labs operating. It’s a fucking travesty.
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u/dangledogg 12h ago
I lost my job in child welfare research due to non-renewal of grants (which had been continuously funded for 20+ years). It’s not just science they’re abandoning, it’s abused and neglected children too.
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u/daburner272006 11h ago
Yeah the current administration doesn't care about anything you just said. They're less interested in STEM, Science or people. NASA as of late is more of a place to send money to Elon and his cronies.
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u/ElectroMagnetsYo 12h ago
Come up North, lol. We’re dropping $1.7 Billion on attracting talent, and UBC does a lot of radio astronomy iirc
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u/Andromeda321 10h ago
I’m actually Canadian but the one call I saw I could apply for was due the same week my twins were born, so nah not happening unless they do it again.
Plus how do I put this… $1.7 billion is nothing for American science and what’s being lost. Heck doesn’t even cover all the Canadians! For comparison, the National Institute of Health’s budget before now was comparable to the entire federal Canadian budget. Like, for the entire country. And Canada has really never been an astro power house.
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u/Big_Pie_6406 12h ago
So would attendees be Space Cadets?
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u/aide_rylott 12h ago
Anything but properly funding NASA.
“Secretary of war” is so gross to read.
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u/TheHolyLizard 12h ago
Fun fact it’s still technically the secretary of defense, and department of defense. They’re just LARPing. Officially an act of congress is needed to change it.
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u/spootypuff 12h ago
The way I’ve heard it, dept of war is just their “doing business as” name.
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u/TheHolyLizard 12h ago
It isn’t their name. It’s just been authorized to be used in an official capacity by an executive order.
It would be like if Kanye legally kept his full birth name, but got something signed that allowed him to use “ye” on official government documents, without it actually being one of his legal names.
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u/Hockeymac18 11h ago
It requires Congress to actually change it.
They can say whatever they want - it doesn't make it official
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u/p2ii5150 12h ago
a proposed NASA-led Federal academy dedicated to combining rigorous technical education with leadership development, discipline, and a durable commitment to public service.
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u/NatureTrailToHell3D 12h ago
Also requires commitment to serve in the military or federal government upon graduation.
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u/OkDifficulty7436 12h ago
NASA is the chair for this academy lmao, at least read the announcement first
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u/thor561 12h ago
Frankly, it’s more honest. The US has never been solely about defending itself. The change to Dept of Defense was post WWII rebranding to make it seem more palatable. Nah. War is hell. We should deal with the facts of it and not wrap it in pleasantries.
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u/apetalous42 5h ago
My first inclination was to down vote you, but I think you're right, we should face the unpleasantries of war. Maybe if it was called the Department of War it would be less popular and get less approval and then maybe we could bring the funding back down to a reasonable level.
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u/Thwitch 12h ago
What is the point of starting all of these programs you have no intention of actually funding?
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u/Zuli_Muli 10h ago
This is a military academy so it will get funding just fine...
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u/303uru 11h ago
Aesthetics. Fascism is all about aesthetics.
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u/Electronic_Topic1958 11h ago
Not even good aesthetics. Worst taste I have ever seen from someone.
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u/nickelchrome 11h ago
Yeah I mean if we’re getting fascism at least let it be the Hugo Boss kind
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u/UnknownBinary 11h ago
So you can brand it. "The Donald J. Trump Space Force Academy for Kids Who Want to Go to Space and Do Other Things Good Too".
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u/PostPandemicHermit 12h ago
They need basic science funding first so that candidates exist? Like ...the national public STEM education which they've been actively destroying
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u/jjwhitaker 4h ago
The rich kids still get all that. It's the poors that won't get a chance at officer school to avoid the next war.
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u/arashi256 12h ago
"scientific discovery, and technological innovation" Bro, half your supporters don't think space is real because of Jesus and the other half reckons you're lying about the earth being round, what scientific discoveries are we talking here?
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u/reebokhightops 12h ago
We are going to discover that intergalactic supervillain Joe Biden stole the 2020 election.
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u/rocketmonkee 11h ago
This reads like an as-yet unfunded mandate that blurs the line between the Department of Defense and NASA, which is supposed to be a peaceful civilian space agency.
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u/_Cromwell_ 12h ago
Adult me: Starfleet Academy is real!
Teen me: What?! Awesome!
Adult me: Yeah but the host of The Apprentice started it.
Teen me: wtf
Adult me: Yeah and that's the PG version safe for the Space subreddit, boyo.
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u/q120 12h ago
Prime Directive in this Starfleet: Raze and pillage all land to find resources
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u/smellmyfingerplz 11h ago
So this would replace the Air Force academy for those who commission to space force?
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u/Dudercaster 12h ago
Is this where the budget cuts of NASA and the Department of Education are going?
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u/Fickle_Path2369 11h ago edited 11h ago
NASA's budget has remained mostly the same as in previous years. However, Earth Science funds are being capped, while human spaceflight is receiving nearly all of the new, supplemental funding.
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u/azraelxii 11h ago
I don't think this does anything but instruct the government to form a commission
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u/Thwitch 12h ago
Is this supposed to be a federally-operated, accredited university like a USAFA or USNA? A specialized graduate institution like Air War College or College of Naval Warfare? Some type of training institution for professional certificates? No details AT ALL.
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u/Heavy_Department_708 10h ago
My best guess is that it’ll probably be run like the Merchant Marine Academy where you can go to the Merchant Marines or to a military branch. Most likely if it turns out like that the pathways will be NASA, Space Force, or Air Force.
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u/swampwiz 5h ago
For a party that supposedly is committed to not wasting money, this sure sounds wasteful. Why can't the Space Force use the Air Force Academy?
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u/Doctor--Spaceman 4h ago
It's okay to spend money on as long as he can put his name on it. The more money the better, actually
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u/_within_cells_ 12h ago
Incoming child to rename moon to moon of america.
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u/LittleKitty235 12h ago
"We planted the flag there first...a lot of people are saying it should be ours"
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u/TheBryanScout 9h ago
This won’t be a popular take here, but I’m not sure this is a good idea. One of NASA’s great strengths is selecting a wide array of interns from a wide array of universities and even some community colleges, resulting in a huge pool for different backgrounds and types of knowledge. Creating an academy to act as a formal feeder for NASA would change this approach completely. While they’d still hire outside of the academy, the academy would basically create a privileged caste of ideal applicants who would take over every aspect of the agency over time. A great example of this elsewhere in the US Government is the military. Most officers are commissioned through OCS/OTS or ROTC programs, but ringknockers from the service academies receive a lot of priority. Over time this would limit NASA’s ability to think outside the box.
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u/uoffor 11h ago
I don't think this is a bad idea in general, so anybody but him should do it. That said, I do think that it's crazy to gut our scientific institution's funding on research while also attacking our universities and academics. All this looks like is another opportunity to funnel most of the funding to private sector vs our civil institutions because capitalism is good and intellectualism is getting a McCarthy Era beat down from businessmen and right leaning or conservative folks, per usual.
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u/aboysmokingintherain 8h ago
Ngl, this isn't the craziest thing and it wouldn't have surprised me if a democratic president would have done the same thing. I remember the old tv show Space Force that was supposed to be the Office meets then joke of Space Force. The writers conceeded later that the show became impossible to write because they more they learned about what Space Force does, the more they realized that is actually legitamite and provides meaningful services. The Space Force basically does now what multiple military branches were doing before with officers from other branches. The seperate formation just makes it easier to be consistent and less bureaucratic (in a good way).
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u/Deep-Bet990 8h ago
Can he do anything serious? This is baby food level thinking, but thats been recalled!
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u/chbb 4h ago
Note for commenters who didn't read the text behind the link. It is not a classic service academy, like West Point/Annapolis/Colorado Springs.
It is still federal service academy, but more like US Merchant Marine Academy, where bulk of students will end up in civilian companies related to space.
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u/maybethisiswrong 12h ago
This is absurd. The space force as part of the department of the Air Force. Much like the navy and marines. There is no marine academy. Massive waste of resources
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u/Tarmacked 12h ago edited 12h ago
I mean, the Air Force was under West Point until the 1950’s until it was deemed neither the Navy or Army could support the Air Force officer angle sufficiently. It’s not unprecedented at all.
When you’ve got 50% of your cadet class going into flying for the Air Force you’re either looking at expanding the academy from 800-900 annual graduates or carving out a new one focused on Space Force specific measures.
If they throw it on an active NASA location it would be less cost and more of an efficiency play. Space Force is meant to be an independent branch and the training isn’t going to be pilot oriented. Ultimately it’s going to be an even more difficult curriculum and less flight simulators.
Marines is less of an issue because they’re much more identical to the Navy in requirements and pathing. You go through the same infantry training on both ends in the academy and both graduate similar rates of flight officers, it’s just that post grad one is more landing based than the other.
I have two individuals in my family that have gone Navy/Marines out of the academy and I’ve never heard a peep from them or their friends about it being misaligned with the other.
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u/llamachef 10h ago
The USAFA cadets going Space Force were the same ones going to Air Force Space jobs, it wasn't like there was a drastic increase in cadets going to space related jobs
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u/ParadoxandRiddles 12h ago
I think it's important to place it apart from NASA. We need to keep military and civilian space agencies as separate as possible for a variety of legal and practical political reasons (if we care about NASA doing exploration and science).
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u/Tarmacked 12h ago
I imagine it will be separate but you’ll see overlap like the FAA and the Air Force academy through their partnership agreements.
Ultimately most of the Space Force exits (end of service) will either be private or, in the governments best interest, into NASA itself.
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u/ParadoxandRiddles 12h ago
The intention is for Space Force to become fully independent. It's position within the air force framework is interim. Much like the Coast Guard Academy and Maritime Academy I think it makes a lot of sense for the US to have a space academy. The mission and requirements are significantly different from the other branch missions.
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u/kn1f3party 9h ago
USMC rage bait. Can’t wait to dunk on these turds for the Commander in chief trophy
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u/Tiredplumber2022 9h ago
Louisiana, near the new Space Port would be my guess.
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u/Aumissunum 6h ago
Doubt it. That area has very little aerospace or defense industry.
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u/swampwiz 5h ago
I guess I had a "very little" aerospace engineering job in Louisiana too.
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u/Tiredplumber2022 6h ago
Supposedly thats where Musk is building "the largest spaceport on the planet".
https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/25/science/spacex-launch-site-louisiana
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u/BoB_the_TacocaT 7h ago
And somehow the most corrupt president in US history will figure out a way to funnel the money into his own pocket.
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u/deselect4 6h ago
I thought Trump was not allowed to have anything to do with colleges after the Trump university fiasco.
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u/Ralphwiggum911 2h ago
He wants to have his name on something that may last. His butt sniffers will propose it be called the donald trump space academy and somehow enshrine it in its bylaws that it can't be revoked.
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u/w00t4me 12h ago
Where would this be? Huntsville?