Jared Isaacman nominated for NASA Administrator

Jared Isaacman, the billionaire tech entrepreneur and Polaris Dawn astronaut, is the new President-Elect -Donald Trump’s - choice for the next NASA administrator.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said, "Jared will drive NASA's mission of discovery and inspiration, paving the way for groundbreaking achievements in space science, technology and exploration,"

As the CEO and founder of Shift4 (A payments processing company) as well as his spaceflight experience and commitment to the funding of two private missions to orbit, he should be well-equipped to bring some experience to NASA.

As NASA administrator, he will be NASA’s chief executive officer; responsible for managing the $25 billion budget and resources, lead the NASA team and act as a senior space science advisor to the President of the United States. 

Isaacman has said in a post on X, that he is “honoured” to receive Trump’s nomination and that he is “passionate about America leading the most incredible adventure in human history.”

With the Artemis program facing a multitude of set-backs and China making significant progress with its space program, Jakred Issacman appears to want to increase progress and get Americans back to the moon. “I was born after the Moon landings; my children were born after the final space shuttle launch,” Isaacman said in his statement, adding: “I can promise you this: We will never again lose our ability to journey to the stars and never settle for second place ... Americans will walk on the Moon and Mars and in doing so, we will make life better here on Earth.”

With both Isaacman and Musk involved in the Trump administration, there may be a move towards increased commercialisation of NASA operations, which already relies heavily on SpaceX and other commercial partners to launch astronauts, cargo and spacecraft to the ISS and other missions.

However, Isaacman still needs to be confirmed by Congress before he officially gets the role.