On Wednesday, President-elect Donald Trump nominated Jared Isaacman, the billionaire CEO of Shift4 who has led two private spaceflights, as the next head of NASA.
“Jared will drive NASA’s mission of discovery and inspiration, paving the way for groundbreaking achievements in space science, technology, and exploration,” Donald Trump wrote in a social media update.
Isaacman accepted Trump’s nomination as NASA administrator in a statement, saying, “Having been fortunate to see our amazing planet from space, I am passionate about America leading the most incredible adventure in human history.”
“It is the honor of a lifetime to serve in this role and work alongside NASA’s extraordinary team to realize our shared dreams of exploration and discovery,” Isaacman told the crowd.
Once he receives confirmation as NASA administrator, Isaacman plans to leave Shift4. Isaacman stated in a letter to Shift4 employees that he intends to “remain CEO until my confirmation” and “retain the majority of my equity interest,” but he will reduce his shareholder voting power.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is currently led by Administrator Bill Nelson, who was nominated by President Joe Biden in 2021. Nelson did not immediately return CNBC’s request for comment.
Nelson, a former United States Senator, is currently in charge of NASA’s nearly $25 billion budget. During his tenure, the space agency launched the first unmanned mission under its highest priority, the multibillion-dollar Artemis moon program.
However, subsequent planned crewed missions, which aim to return US astronauts to the lunar surface, have been significantly delayed and over budget.
Isaacman has led two private spaceflights with SpaceX, in 2021 and 2024, commanding a pair of crews on multiday trips around the planet.
His spaceflight ambitions have led to an increasingly close relationship with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who has become a key figure in Trump’s administration planning.
Isaacman has previously criticised NASA’s Artemis architecture, citing the program’s excessive spending on expendable SLS rockets and the agency’s decision to award a second crewed lunar lander contract to Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin.
“Spend billions of dollars on lunar lander redundancy that SLS does not provide at the expense of dozens of scientific programs. “I don’t like it,” Isaacman stated in a post earlier this year.
In addition to running Shift4, Isaacman has led the Polaris Program, which consists of three missions with increasingly ambitious goals.
The first mission in that program, Polaris Dawn, launched earlier this year and saw Isaacman conduct a brief spacewalk from SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, marking the company’s first such extravehicular activity, or EVA, in space.
“Back at home, we all have a lot of work to do, but from here, Earth sure looks like a perfect world,” Isaacman said during the spacewalk after exiting the capsule.
