China now has 1,189 satellites watching us from orbit – up 927% since 2015.
Byron Donalds just stepped up to make sure America trains the warriors who will stop them.
What Byron Donalds did Monday could determine whether Florida or some other state becomes the home of American space power.
China Is Winning the Space Race and Washington Barely Noticed
While Biden was napping, China was launching.
U.S. Space Force generals warned last year that Beijing is building an orbital "kill chain" – a weapons network designed to locate, track, and destroy American forces across distances, Lt. Gen. Douglas Schiess said, that the U.S. has never seen before.
Schiess, the commander of U.S. Space Forces-Space, didn't hedge when he addressed the Air and Space Forces Association: "China is definitely our biggest threat."
That's not a think tank opinion.
That's the man responsible for American orbital defense telling you the country that made your iPhone is now pointing weapons at the satellites guiding our missiles.
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The Space Force has a 25% shortfall between job assignments and requirements – meaning we don't have enough trained people to run our own space defense network.
Trump saw this problem and acted.
On August 28, he signed an executive order at NASA's Johnson Space Center creating the U.S. Space Academy – a new institution on par with West Point and Annapolis, designed to train the next generation of space warriors.
"American superiority in space depends on the strength, skill, and character of those who explore, secure, and build the industries critical to it," the order reads.
The commission Trump created has 120 days to recommend a location – which means the site decision could come before Christmas.
That clock is already running.
Byron Donalds Made Sure Florida Gets This
Byron Donalds stood at Blue Origin's Rocket Park on Monday and made his move.
He filed companion House legislation to Senator Ashley Moody's STARS Act, joining forces with Rep. Mike Haridopolos to put the U.S. Space Academy on Florida's Space Coast.
Moody called it a unified mission: "Florida is unified in this effort to ensure our state remains the leader in space innovation and exploration."
She's not wrong – and Florida's case is stronger than every other state's.
Patrick Space Force Base is already home to Space Training and Readiness Command, the Space Force's permanent training headquarters, sitting right there on the Space Coast.
Launches from Florida have increased more than 500% since 2016.
Cape Canaveral hosted over 90 orbital launches in 2024 alone.
SpaceX, Blue Origin, United Launch Alliance – every major launch company has deep operational roots on Florida's east coast.
NASA operations in Florida generate $8.2 billion in economic output and support 35,000 jobs.
Putting the Space Academy anywhere else would be like building the Naval Academy in Oklahoma.
Moody has been running a full-court press for months – responding to the federal site-selection questionnaire, meeting with space industry leaders to pitch Florida, securing passage of the Secure U.S. Leadership in Space Act to make spaceport bonds tax-exempt, and introducing the CAPE Canaveral Act to move NASA headquarters from Washington to the Space Coast.
Florida isn't asking for the academy.
Florida is making the case it already is the academy.
The Bigger Play for Donalds
When Congress established the Air Force Academy, it took nearly seven years of review and debate before legislation passed in 1954 – and the initial appropriation was the equivalent of $1.87 billion in today's dollars.
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Nobody said this would be fast or cheap.
But the difference now is that Trump's commission has a hard deadline, Florida has a unified congressional delegation hammering from both chambers, and China isn't waiting around while Washington deliberates.
Every month of delay is another month Beijing is launching satellites and training officers while America debates committee procedures.
Donalds understands what this moment actually means – which is why he was standing at a rocket park making policy instead of holding a fundraiser in Naples.
The candidate who delivers the Space Academy to Florida doesn't just win the governor's race.
He writes himself into the history of American power – the same way Reagan won the Cold War by refusing to let the Soviets own space.
China has already launched 1,189 satellites.
Florida has the launch pads, the bases, the jobs, and now the congressman willing to fight for it.
The only question is whether Washington, DC moves fast enough.
Sources:
- Washington Examiner, "Trump signs executive order creating US Space Academy," Washington Examiner, August 28, 2026.
- Payload Space, "Trump Orders Study To Establish US Space Academy," Payload Space, August 28, 2026.
- legis1.com, "Space Academy Commission Has 120 Days to Propose," legis1.com, 2026.
- DigiTimes, "US generals warn China poses top space threat, say Beijing developing orbital kill chain," DigiTimes, 2025.
- Florida TaxWatch, "Florida's Space Coast is Well-Positioned to Dominate the Future of the Aerospace Industry," Florida TaxWatch, January 26, 2026.
- Zero G Talent, "Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center Jobs in 2026: The Space Coast Hiring Boom," Zero G Talent, 2026.
