While visiting the Johnson Space Center Friday, President Donald Trump announced and signed an executive order to establish the Space Force Academy.

The Space Force, first established by Trump in 2019 during his first administration, is the newest military branch and consists of approximately 9,400 active duty Guardians.

The president underscored the importance of the Space Force and its future, stressing the need for the academy.

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“Given the rapid growth of the Space Force and the commercial space industry and the expansion of our ambitions to the moon and far beyond the moon,” the president said during his speech Friday. “The moon will be a close location, but it’s clear that we will need to educate and train an entire generation of skilled service members, engineers and civil operators.”

According to the executive order, the academy will be led by NASA and “dedicated to combining rigorous technical education with leadership development, discipline, and a durable commitment to public service.”

The order aligns with the president’s mission to expand and accelerate the space program, underscoring American excellence.

“Space is a critical domain for American national security, economic growth, scientific discovery, and technological innovation. American superiority in space depends on the strength, skill, and character of those who explore, secure, and build the industries critical to it,” the order reads. “To continue to lead the world in space exploration and technology, while securing and defending our national interests in space, the Nation must prepare the next generation of astronauts, scientists, engineers, operators, entrepreneurs, civil servants, and warfighters and ensure that they are capable of advancing American interests in space. Achieving this goal requires us to recruit, train, and retain America's best and brightest from across the Nation.”

Neither the president nor the executive order indicated a potential location for the newest academy.

Colorado has already tangled with the administration over space-related military decisions — about a year ago, the state sued Trump over what it called a retaliatory relocation of Space Command headquarters.

The current military academies include: The U.S. Military Academy (Army) in West Point, N.Y., the U.S. Naval Academy, serving both the Navy and Marine Corps in Annapolis, Md., the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y.