Space Force Eyes Space Academy as Source of Civilian Talent
16th September 2026
The Space Force could turn President Donald Trump’s proposed U.S. Space Academy into a new source of highly skilled civilian employees while continuing to rely on the Air Force Academy to produce military officers, the service’s top officer said Tuesday.
Chief of Space Operations Gen. Douglas Schiess said the NASA-led academy could help address the Space Force’s growing demand for workers with specialized technical expertise.
“We need a lot of technical civilians in the Space Force,” Schiess told reporters at the Air and Space Forces Association’s annual Air, Space, and Cyber Conference outside Washington.
“Anybody that’s space-minded and is going to have that background, that can then get a job in the Space Force as a civilian, that’s great.”
The Space Force is seeking to rebuild and significantly expand its civilian workforce. The service lost nearly 14% of its civilian employees amid federal workforce reductions and is asking Congress to fund about 7,200 civilian jobs in 2027, a 40% increase over 2026.
Civilians make up about one-third of the Space Force workforce and hold critical jobs across missions including satellite communications, missile warning, and cyber operations.
Trump signed an executive order last month creating a presidential commission to develop plans for the U.S. Space Academy, envisioned as a NASA-led federal institution that would educate astronauts, engineers, scientists, operators, civil servants, and others for careers in the nation’s space enterprise.
The commission has 120 days to recommend how the academy should be structured, governed, and accredited, as well as what service obligations graduates would have in exchange for their education.