Space Academy site data due Nov. 16; Alabama among states submitting

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said Saturday that Alabama is among the states in contention to host a proposed U.S. Space Academy, speaking at the University of Alabama before the Alabama-Texas A&M game.

"Oh, I'm quite sure that Alabama is one of the strong contenders right now," Isaacman said in an interview with 265 Today.

President Donald Trump announced the academy in August. NASA describes it as the first NASA-led federal academy, set up to train students for careers in space exploration, engineering, science and national security. Alabama has proposed Huntsville as the site, citing NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Redstone Arsenal and the region's aerospace and defense employers.

Isaacman said governors and senators from states with space programs have contacted the commission managing the academy's development. "So of course, Alabama was in there," he said, adding that the commission is collecting details on available land and nearby colleges that could teach students before a permanent campus opens.

NASA Deputy Administrator Matt Anderson said the commission has completed about half of its 120-day assignment. States must send information by Nov. 16, and the commission meets Nov. 23 to review submissions and prepare recommendations. The response deadline had been Oct. 26 before it was pushed back.

The commission will recommend sites to President Trump, who selects the final location. Anderson said groundbreaking on a permanent campus is planned no later than 2027, with roughly 300 students starting classes in temporary facilities in 2028. The permanent campus is scheduled to be operating by 2031.

Anderson compared the schedule to the U.S. Air Force Academy. President Eisenhower signed legislation establishing that academy in April 1954, and students began classes in the summer of 1955, he said. "So we're actually have a head start on them from over 70 years ago. So we feel we have plenty of time," Anderson said.

The academy would primarily train civilians for work at NASA and other federal space agencies. Anderson said, "It is a NASA LED federal Academy." Students pursuing military service could earn commissions, mostly in the U.S. Space Force. Admissions standards are still being developed.

Isaacman said the academy seeks students with an interest in exploration across many disciplines. "Oh, we are looking for very inspired dreamers about a wonderful future that we can build among the stars right now," he said, naming software, mechanical and electrical engineers, aerospace enthusiasts and medical professionals.

The interviews followed a memorandum of understanding signed by Isaacman and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins at the University of Alabama. The agreement expands NASA and USDA work on satellite observations, technology and data analysis to improve crop forecasts and prepare farmers for droughts and other hazards.

"It's one of the greatest synergies that comes together when agriculture and NASA put our minds together," Isaacman said. Rollins tied food supply to national defense: "if we can't feed ourselves, or fuel ourselves, we will no longer know freedom."

Saturday's visit was part of NASA's nationwide Inspiration Tour, which brought space exhibits and agency personnel to the University of Alabama campus. The tour ends at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Nov. 7 and 8 with MAX POWER, a public exposition of American air and space innovation. The NASA Experience Zone outside Bryant-Denny Stadium displayed the Artemis program, lunar landing systems and space career information, with support from Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. Shortly after the national anthem, Isaacman piloted a NASA F-5 fighter jet over the stadium with Rollins aboard.