CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — President-elect Donald Trump has put forward the name of Jared Isaacman, a notable tech entrepreneur and CEO of a card-processing company, to steer NASA. Isaacman, 41, has made headlines for purchasing multiple spaceflights from Elon Musk’s SpaceX and for executing the first-ever private spacewalk. He first made a voyage with SpaceX in 2021, bringing along contest winners and later participated in a mission that involved testing the company’s new spacewalking suits.
If the Senate confirms his appointment, Isaacman will take over the role from Bill Nelson, 82, a former Florida senator and appointee of President Joe Biden. Nelson has an extensive history with space, having flown on the Space Shuttle Columbia during a mission in 1986, which happened just before the devastating Challenger disaster.
Expressing gratitude for his nomination, Isaacman stated via social media platform X that he feels privileged to have witnessed Earth from space. He expressed his enthusiasm for America leading in the exciting field of space exploration, describing it as one of the most remarkable adventures in human history.
During Bill Nelson’s leadership, NASA has made significant strides toward reestablishing a human presence on the moon. The Artemis program, named after Apollo’s sister in mythology, is set to send four astronauts on a lunar mission next year, marking the first moon landing in over 50 years. NASA is collaborating with SpaceX to facilitate astronauts landing on the moon using the Starship rocket, which has been successful in its test flights out of Texas.
In addition to lunar missions, NASA continues to depend on SpaceX for transporting astronauts to and from the International Space Station and for resupply missions. Although Boeing managed its inaugural crew launch for NASA in June, the Starliner capsule ran into several challenges, resulting in the crew being stranded at the space station. They are slated to return home with SpaceX in February after spending over eight months in orbit, far exceeding the original eight-day mission plan.
NASA also has ambitious plans for exploring the solar system with ongoing robotic missions targeting the moon and beyond. A spacecraft is currently on its way to Europa, a moon of Jupiter, while the Mars rover Perseverance is busy collecting rock and soil samples. Faced with budget constraints, NASA is in search of a more efficient and economical means to bring Martian samples back to Earth than the previous approach, which was estimated to cost $11 billion and wouldn’t yield results until after 2040. Like its human spaceflight initiatives, NASA is turning to the private sector for solutions.
Jared Isaacman, who has a passion for space exploration that dates back to his childhood, previously dropped out of high school at 16. He obtained his GED and launched a business from his parents’ basement that led to the establishment of Shift4, which is now based in eastern Pennsylvania where he resides with his wife and their two young daughters. In 2009, he set a record for circumnavigating the globe in a fighter jet while raising money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He also founded Draken International, recognized as the largest private fleet of fighter jets in the world.
Isaacman has plans for two additional flights with SpaceX, including a mission overseeing the first crewed journey of Starship into Earth’s orbit.
