A monthslong saga that includes tech billionaire Jared Isaacman — President Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again decide to run NASA — has lastly come to an in depth as the Senate confirmed his appointment in a 67-to-30 vote.
Isaacman, a non-public astronaut and CEO of funds firm Shift4, is now set to take the helm at NASA simply weeks earlier than the company is anticipated to launch Artemis II, a mission that may carry 4 astronauts across the moon and mark the farthest into house people have traveled because the Apollo program led to 1972.
When Trump first chosen Isaacman for the NASA position in late 2024, the selection sparked pleasure amongst house business leaders who view Isaacman as a changemaker. The nomination additionally raised considerations about conflicts of curiosity.
Since founding Shift4 in 1999 on the age of 16, Isaacman has made a reputation for himself within the house business by self-funding experimental flights to Earth orbit. He’s flown to house twice — each instances in partnership with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Those missions have given Isaacman a repute as a daring risk-taker who’s embracing the house business’s transition away from government-funded initiatives and towards private-sector enterprise. His supporters hope that, as the pinnacle of NASA, he’ll foster competitors amongst house corporations, push them to align with NASA’s objectives, and focus the house company’s efforts towards bleeding-edge applied sciences.
But Isaacman’s nomination will not be with out controversy.
Some are involved the brand new NASA chief’s ties to Musk and SpaceX run too deep. On Monday, Senator Edward Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, lambasted SpaceX for refusing to reveal how a lot cash Isaacman paid the corporate for his flights to house.
“This is extremely suspicious. SpaceX has billions to gain from having a friendly NASA administrator, and it seems only fair that the American people understand the extent to which Isaacman and SpaceX are financially intertwined,” Markey stated in a Monday assertion. “Sometimes if it looks like corruption, sounds like corruption, and smells like corruption, it’s just plain corruption.”
Markey had requested that SpaceX launch Isaacman from a nondisclosure settlement that prevented him from instantly offering senators with the data.
Recent monetary disclosures say that Isaacman’s ongoing cope with SpaceX for a program referred to as Polaris is price greater than $50 million. He additionally reported greater than $5 million in capital beneficial properties from an funding within the firm.
During a December affirmation listening to, Isaacman sought to downplay his associations with Musk.
“I led two missions to space at SpaceX because it’s the only organization that can send astronauts to and from space since the Shuttle was retired,” Isaacman stated. “And in that respect, my relationship is no different than that of NASA.”
Isaacman’s first nomination to the position of NASA chief was abruptly rescinded amid a falling out between Trump and Musk earlier this yr, NCS beforehand reported.
His appointment was then reinstated in November as Trump and Musk’s relationship appeared to thaw.
During his second affirmation listening to earlier this month, Isaacman confronted questions concerning the Project Athena doc — a 62-page define of his plans for NASA that was lately leaked.
The objectives outlined in “Project Athena,” a copy of which was obtained by NCS, embody revamping some NASA facilities to give attention to nuclear electrical propulsion, establishing a Mars exploration program, and embracing an “accelerate/fix/delete” philosophy to reshape the company. Many of the proposals, significantly people who contain reorganizing NASA’s workforce and altering a few of its method to scientific analysis, are divisive.
For instance, Sen. Andy Kim, a Democrat from New Jersey, stated in the course of the December 3 affirmation listening to that he had anticipated Isaacman to additional distance himself from a few of the Project Athena doc’s proposals — significantly parts that counsel slicing NASA civil servant jobs.
After initially voting in favor of Isaacman throughout his first go on the affirmation course of this spring, Kim recinded his assist and voted towards sending his nomination to a Senate flooring vote.
During the December 3 listening to, Isaacman additionally confronted questions on how he regained favor with Trump after having been on the outs for months.
Sen. Gary Peters famous that Isaacman had lately donated roughly $2 million to President Trump’s Super PAC.
“I wouldn’t even begin to want to speculate why the President nominated me,” Isaacman stated on the listening to, including that he made the Super PAC donations as he briefly thought of a political profession earlier this yr.
“It shouldn’t be surprising that I supported the Republican party,” he stated.
In the previous, nonetheless, Isaacman has donated to each Republican and Democratic candidates.
In common, Isaacman has additionally adopted a starkly completely different tone on politics than Musk — who has taken a robust flip towards the fitting wing — or Trump, aiming to place himself as a extra impartial occasion.
“I respect people’s passionate views on emotionally charged topics like politics, but I am anchored in the center and will always aim to be a unifier rather than a divider,” he wrote in a 2024 post on X.
Such a stance is in step with how NASA directors of the previous have positioned themselves. Effectively main the house company — and securing funding for initiatives NASA hopes to perform — routinely requires the company’s chief to work with lawmakers on either side of the aisle.
NASA directors are usually chosen from a pool of scientists, engineers, lecturers or public servants.
That makes Isaacman, a tech entrepreneur, an atypical chief for the house company. And whereas he’s gained critics throughout the science group and in pockets of Washington, DC, he’s additionally been cheered by exploration advocates who imagine NASA wants a changemaker at its helm.
“With decades of experience as an entrepreneur, business leader, and commercial space pioneer, Mr. Isaacman is ideally suited to lead NASA at this critical time in the agency’s history,” stated Dave Cavossa, the president of the Commercial Space Federation, a commerce affiliation, in a latest assertion.
A coalition of 36 former NASA astronauts additionally supported Isaacman taking over the company’s high job.
“We believe that Jared Isaacman is clearly qualified to lead NASA at this critical juncture,” the group stated in a press release. “Most importantly, Jared has a genuine passion for space exploration and a genuine admiration for NASA as an American institution. He will bring renewed energy and sense of purpose to NASA.”
The present appearing administrator of NASA, Sean Duffy, who additionally serves as Trump’s Transportation Secretary, congratulated Isaacman on his new position in a social media submit Wednesday.
“I wish Jared success as he begins his tenure and leads NASA as we go back to the Moon in 2028 and beat China,” the submit reads.
This story has been up to date with further info.