Tennessee wants to train America’s next generation of space officers, and Rep. Matt Van Epps says the state is ready. Speaking with Dan Mandis on Thursday, the West Point graduate and former Army helicopter pilot made the case for bringing the new U.S. Space Academy to Tennessee.
“The president made the announcement in Texas a little over a month ago, saying that there’s going to be a new service academy, and it’s going to be the space academy,” Van Epps said. Knowing what the service academies mean “to developing officers for our military,” he reached out to colleagues in Congress, the senators and the governor’s office. “The governor’s office has taken a lead and has developed a great proposal.”
Gov. Bill Lee announced the bid on Wednesday, with a site in Coffee County between Tullahoma and Manchester. Van Epps, whose National Guard unit is headquartered nearby, said the location is strategic, right by Arnold Air Force Base and the University of Tennessee Space Institute and “just outside of Huntsville, where so much space and aerospace activity happens.” Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty and Rep. Scott DesJarlais are on board too.
“We have the right business environment, we have the right companies, the right leadership, and we think we’ll have a good chance at our proposal,” Van Epps said.
“There are a whole lot of states that have also applied to get this new service academy,” he said, “but we think we have a very strong proposal in a great area where we can lead in space and aerospace.”
