Hobbs creates committee focused on bringing U.S. Space Academy to Arizona

Gov. Katie Hobbs announced Friday a statewide effort to bring the U.S. Space Academy to Arizona — through the creation of the Arizona U.S. Space Academy Steering Committee.

The U.S. Space Academy is a proposed service academy for space-related operations, announced by President Donald Trump in an executive order on Aug. 28. NASA will lead the academy, and it wants classes to start by 2028.

Hobbs’ proposal for Arizona to host the academy comes from the belief that the state is a leader in aerospace and defense industries, in addition to having a cutting-edge science, research and high-tech manufacturing economy, according to a press release.

“Arizona is bringing together the state’s pre-eminent leaders on space science and exploration, representing our world-class universities, industry partners, local communities and the Arizona Space Commission to build a strong proposal for NASA,” Hobbs said.

“Together, we are going to secure the U.S. Space Academy for our state and continue Arizona’s dominance in cutting-edge advanced manufacturing, aerospace and defense, and science and engineering,” she added.

Trump will make the final choice for the service academy’s location after receiving recommendations from a commission chaired by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.

“Arizona would be an amazing place to host the space academy,” Laurie Leshin, an Arizona State University professor who is on the steering committee, told KTAR News 92.3 FM. “We bring the deepest university bench in the country, when it comes to space. We work on dozens and dozens of space missions here across Arizona universities.”

Who is on the Arizona U.S. Space Academy Steering Committee?

• Gov. Katie Hobbs
• Ambassador Barbara Barrett, former U.S. Secretary of the Air Force, overseeing both the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force
• Laurie Leshin, Arizona State University professor for Space Futures and former director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• Pete Worden, retired brigadier general in the U.S. Air Force and former director of development and transformation for the Air Force Space Command
• Erika Hamden, University of Arizona, director of the Space Institute and associate professor of astrophysics
• David Trilling, Northern Arizona University, chair of the Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science and professor of astronomy and planetary science
• Sian Proctor, first female commercial spaceship pilot astronaut
• Brett Mecum, Arizona Space Commission, chair
• Sandra Watson, Arizona Commerce Authority, president and CEO
• Jim Cantrell, Phantom Space, CEO and co-founder
• Mayor Douglas Nicholls, Yuma
• Mayor Clea McCaa, Sierra Vista
• Steve Zylstra, Arizona Technology Council, president and CEO

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Heidi Hommel contributed to this report.

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