STARS Act of 2026

Congress finds the following:

(1) Space is a vital domain for the national security, economic competitiveness, and technological leadership of the United States, and the Nation's continued dominance in space depends on a pipeline of highly trained astronauts, engineers, operators, and civil servants.

(2) On August 28, 2026, the President signed an Executive order establishing the Presidential Commission on the United States Space Academy, directing that Commission to recommend a governance framework, curriculum, and site-selection process for a proposed NASA-led Federal service academy dedicated to space.

(3) Recent executive actions, including the establishment of the Presidential Commission on the United States Space Academy, reflect a renewed national commitment to expanding the pipeline of American space talent and reasserting American leadership in the space domain amid growing strategic competition, including from the People's Republic of China.

(4) The State of Florida is home to the John F. Kennedy Space Center, the single most active human spaceflight launch complex in the world, and to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, from which the majority of the Nation's orbital launches are conducted.

(5) Florida hosts Patrick Space Force Base and Space Launch Delta 45, giving the State an unmatched concentration of active-duty Space Force personnel, launch range safety infrastructure, and operational expertise directly relevant to the mission of the Space Academy.

(6) Florida's Space Coast region supports one of the largest concentrations of commercial space companies in the United States, including national security launch providers, satellite manufacturers, and in-space logistics firms, creating an unparalleled ecosystem of industry partners, internship opportunities, and post-graduate employment pathways for Academy cadets.

(7) Florida's institutions of higher education, including Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the University of Central Florida, and the Florida Institute of Technology, already offer nationally recognized aerospace engineering and space operations programs, and are positioned to support and complement the academic mission of the Academy.

(8) Space Florida, the State's spaceport authority and aerospace economic development agency, has decades of experience coordinating range operations, workforce development, and infrastructure investment in direct support of NASA, the Space Force, and the commercial launch industry.

(9) Florida's climate permits a high annual number of flyable launch days, and the State's coastal geography provides safe overwater trajectories for launch and reentry operations, both of which are operationally significant for a service academy whose cadets will train alongside active launch operations.

(10) Locating the Space Academy in Florida would allow cadets to train in direct proximity to operational launch, range, and Space Force facilities, providing a level of real-world immersion unavailable at any other location in the United States.

(11) It is in the national interest to establish the Space Academy without delay and to resolve the question of its permanent location in a manner that maximizes its operational integration with existing space launch, range, and military infrastructure.