States Jockey To Land Trump’s New Space Academy

President Donald Trump’s decision to create a new federal academy has set off a fresh space race.

Officials from at least a half-dozen states, from Nevada to Florida, are already angling for the new Space Academy that Trump announced this month. Winning the competition would likely bring in hundreds of millions of federal dollars to build and operate the facility — and the economic boon that comes with it.

But the last time the Trump administration tried to establish a major space unit, when officials sought out a home for a newly reestablished U.S. Space Command in 2019, it touched off a yearslong brawl in Congress and between states. The early jockeying over the fledgling academy underscores the high-stakes competition that’s ahead.

Congress has yet to sign off on the venture. But Colorado Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper, whose state hosts the Air Force Academy, offered an early warning, calling the initiative “duplicative, costly, and unserious.”

“Establishing a dedicated service academy for space may sound good on paper, but our nation already has an exceptional institution that trains tomorrow’s Space Force leaders,” Hickenlooper said, referring to the Air Force Academy. “To duplicate that effort at a time when our national deficit is soaring, is reckless and makes a dire situation even worse.”

So far, the administration’s plan for a Space Academy has mostly attracted interest from Republican lawmakers, after NASA officially kicked off the bidding process. But with midterm elections just weeks away, it’s unclear whether or how Congress would fund it. Other federally-run colleges cost roughly $1 billion per year to operate. And the lobbying campaign could devolve into a fight like the one that broke out over relocating Space Command that spanned both the Trump and Biden administrations.

Ohio became the latest large state to enter the race on Monday as Sen. Bernie Moreno launched a statewide push to bring the Space Academy to Dayton’s Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

“President Trump knows that Ohio has the resources, the history, and the talent to get this done,” Moreno, a Trump ally, said in a statement announcing the effort. “Under his leadership, America isn’t just going back to the Moon, we’re staying there.”

But the entire project could end up being quashed in two years under a new administration. At best, Congress won’t even tackle the situation until next year, said Todd Harrison, a budget and space analyst with the American Enterprise Institute. And that’s still contingent on the midterms.

“States and local communities may very well be wasting their time bidding on vaporware,” Harrison said.

Trump in August signed an executive order to establish the academy within NASA. Though overseen by the civilian space agency, the academy also would serve the Space Force, the newest military service that Congress created during Trump’s first term.

The initiative sets up a rare opportunity for states to attract a new federal asset within their borders — and the ample government funding and jobs that come with it. Officials from at least six states have shown interest in playing host to the institution: Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Nevada, Ohio and Texas.

In recent weeks, leaders from those aerospace-heavy states have jumped into the contest, with some Republicans drawing on their close ties to the Trump administration.

Alabama Rep. Dale Strong spearheaded a letter to the NASA-led commission charged with creating the academy from fellow Republicans in the state making the case to locate it in Huntsville. Alabama emerged a winner last year when Trump picked it as the permanent home of Space Command. The state also hosts the Missile Defense Agency and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.

Officials from Florida, where Trump now calls home, are touting their state as the “nexus” of space operations. Sen. Ashley Moody introduced legislation last week to create a Space Academy located in Florida. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), the favorite to become Florida’s next governor, on Tuesday unveiled similar legislation.

“Establishing the Space Academy on Florida’s Space Coast forges an immediate talent pipeline and creates an unmatched competitive advantage, offering cadets daily exposure to NASA personnel, Space Force leaders, and private industry innovators,” Donalds said in a statement.

In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott launched a bid to host the Space Academy in Houston, home to NASA’s Johnson Space Center. The bid is supported by two senior Texas Republicans — House Science, Space and Technology panel Chair Brian Babin and Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz, whose committees oversee NASA. Officials from other states have also weighed in, including Nevada and Louisiana.

The jockeying for the academy is reminiscent of recent battles over key government agencies and military assets.

States, Congress, the Pentagon and two presidents clashed bitterly over the site of Space Command for the first half of the 2020s. After a lengthy nationwide search, the Trump administration selected Alabama’s Redstone Arsenal in early 2021. President Joe Biden, though, opted to keep the command in Colorado.

Trump reinstated Space Command’s move to Alabama last year. The decision ended a six-year fight marred by accusations of political favoritism by both parties.

NASA chief Jared Isaacman said on Friday that multiple states have shown interest in housing the Space Academy but the decision is entirely “up to the president.”

But lingering questions remain about the proposal. The academy is pitched as a NASA-led initiative, but the agency faces a tight budget environment, with a number of high-profile missions it needs to fund under a flat budget.

Trump established a commission to make a plan for the academy, but recommendations aren’t due until December — likely pushing any progress to the next Congress. And if Democrats sweep the midterms, the effort may face an uphill battle.

Some lawmakers are already skeptical of the need for a Space Academy.

“As a NASA-led initiative, would that come out of NASA’s budget?” asked Rep. George Whitesides (D-Calif.), a former NASA chief of staff.

Isaacman has rebuffed concerns about the cost of building the academy. He said lawmakers and governors from “both parties have been reaching out and assembling potential funding packages.”

The agency aims to move quickly, and laid out initial details in a Sept. 10 request for information to states. NASA wants construction to begin next year, with the first class enrolled in temporary facilities in 2028 and in a permanent location by 2031 with 1,200 undergraduates.

Officials just need to figure out where.