President-elect Donald Trump named commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman as the next administrator for the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) on Dec. 4.
“Jared’s passion for Space, astronaut experience, and dedication to pushing the boundaries of exploration, unlocking the mysteries of the universe, and advancing the new Space economy, make him ideally suited to lead NASA into a bold new Era,” Trump said. ”Congratulations to Jared, his wife Monica, and their children, Mila & Liv!”
“I was born after the Moon landings; my children were born after the final space shuttle launch,” he said. ”With the support of President Trump, I can promise you this: We will never again lose our ability to journey to the stars and never settle for second place. We will inspire children, yours and mine, to look up and dream of what is possible.
“Americans will walk on the Moon and Mars and in doing so, we will make life better here on Earth. It is the honor of a lifetime to serve in this role and to work alongside NASA’s extraordinary team to realize our shared dreams of exploration and discovery.”
Isaacman is the founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, and Draken International, a defense aerospace company. He became a commercial astronaut in 2021 and served as mission commander for both the Inspiration4 and Polaris Dawn missions. Both of which utilized Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule. Polaris Dawn drew media attention for taking its crew to the highest Earth orbit that human beings have ever flown, and the world’s first commercial spacewalk (Extra Vehicular Activity). It was Isaacman who performed that spacewalk.
He also leads the Polaris Program, which utilizes SpaceX to push commercial spaceflight efforts.
It has been a common practice for former astronauts to become NASA administrators, but they all earned their wings as NASA astronauts. The current administrator, former Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), flew aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1986 on STS-61C, during which he orbited the Earth 98 times in six days and conducted 12 medical experiments, including America’s first treadmill stress test in space.
However, Isaacman appears to be the first person with FAA commercial astronaut wings to be nominated for this position.
He will assume the administrative position at a time when private space activity is more active than ever. SpaceX set the ambitious goal of launching 148 rockets in 2024 alone, and its behemoth Starship—which Musk seeks to use to not only get to the moon but also colonize Mars—continues to reach important milestones.
Isaacman will also inherit NASA’s Artemis Program, the goal of which is to use international partners and cooperation with the private sector to return human beings to the moon for the first time since 1972 and establish a permanent presence there before the Chinese Communist Party does.
