NASA Is Starting a U.S. Space Academy? Orbital Dogfighting and Starship Flight 14
Release Date: 09/15/2026
NASA Is Starting a U.S. Space Academy? Orbital Dogfighting and Starship Flight 14
Today In Space
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info_outlineThis week, we're covering what's been trending in Space News for the last 5 days...and NASA HAS BEEN TASKED WITH BUILDING A U.S. SPACE ACADEMY! But how serious is this executive order and it's create a presidential commission? Could this be the start of our own Starfleet Academy or just the Presidents Legacy piece? We also get into the first U.S. military live-fly exercise in orbital dogfighting, and updates on where Starship Flight 14 stands.
Gathered by our AI Assistant SKYE and reported by your human host Spaceman Alex!
I'm Alex G. Orphanos, your space science podcast host and your favorite mad scientist.
Tell me what you think of the SKYE Report, and which segments to dig deeper into. Drop it in the comments or email us at todayinspacepodcast@gmail.com
Be well, stay safe, and stay curious.
SPREAD LOVE, SPREAD SCIENCE, AND STAY CURIOUS.
THE BOOK The Book of Uncommon-Sense 3D Printing is out now in hardcover and on Kindle: https://ag3dlabs.com/book MORE TODAY IN SPACE https://todayinspace.net
SKYE is free and it runs every 30 minutes: https://todayinspace.net
CHAPTERS
00:00 What SKYE is, and this week's report
01:13 The rundown — Sep 7 to 11
02:14 The big story: NASA tasked with a U.S. Space Academy
04:12 My take — a legacy piece until the funding shows up
05:00 Why there's still no real school for space
06:44 So many astronauts, so few seats
07:15 Starfleet Academy in San Francisco?
07:28 Isaacman's case for the academy
09:06 A first: orbital dogfighting in a live-fly exercise
10:28 Why Starlink matters to the military
11:48 My take — war, space, and who drives the conversation
12:24 Starship Flight 14 — no confirmed date yet
13:00 What to watch this week
13:33 Close
WATCH THIS WEEK (Eastern)
Mon Sep 14, 9:21pm — Vega-C with Sentinel-3C and FLEX
Tue Sep 15, 9:00pm — Falcon 9 with USSF-259
Wed Sep 16, 9:33am — Soyuz with Progress MS-35 to the station, docking Sat Sep 19 — live on NASA+: https://plus.nasa.gov/scheduled-video/progress-96-cargo-ship-docking/
Fri Sep 18, 8:15am — Starship Flight 14, the earliest date on the board, not yet confirmed
CORRECTIONS
I said Vega-C launches Tuesday and USSF-259 on Wednesday. Those are the UTC dates — in Eastern they fly Monday night and Tuesday night. And no source we could read calls Starship Flight 14 "the first orbital flight"; Launch Library 2 describes it as the first Starship flight to deploy satellites into stable low Earth orbit. Update: O3b mPower 11-13, underway as I recorded, launched successfully on Sunday.
SOURCES FOR THIS EPISODE
U.S. SPACE ACADEMY
NASA — President Trump signs executive order to create U.S. Space Academy
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/president-trump-signs-executive-order-to-create-us-space-academy/
NASA — NASA answers President's call to establish United States Space Academy
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-answers-presidents-call-to-establish-united-states-space-academy/
Jared Isaacman on X — the post I read from on air
https://x.com/NASAAdmin/status/2098842327947317525
ORBITAL DOGFIGHTING
Space.com — US military practices orbital dogfighting in 1st-ever 'live fly' exercise in space
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/satellites/us-military-practices-orbital-dogfighting-in-1st-ever-live-fly-exercise-in-space
STARSHIP
NASASpaceflight — Starship Flight 14 Nears — So Where Is The Rocket?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIrpJvrgEvs
IMAGES: Alex G. Orphanos · NASA (U.S. Space Academy RFI cover) · U.S. Space Command / Christopher DeWitt
Youtube ID: https://youtu.be/YVDyFDBgFuE
#spaceacademy #nasa #spaceforce #starship #spacenews #isaacman #spacepodcast #todayinspace