After being removed from controversy over running NASA, Jared Isaacman will officially take over the world’s largest space agency.
Don’t call it a comeback.
Isaacman, a billionaire who has funded two private missions into space with SpaceX that he led, initially seemed like a shoo-in to become NASA’s next administrator. But once President Donald Trump reversed his decision to nominate Isaacman, the entrepreneur’s path to a leadership position seemed long — if not impossible.
After that, reports slowly began to surface that Isaacman was back in the running. And in November, Trump announced that he had decided Isaacman was the best candidate for the job after all.
Trump’s move to renominate Isaacman set the 42-year-old on a fast track to a Senate confirmation vote, which took place on Wednesday, December 17. By confirming Isaacman as the next head of NASA, the Senate has paved an important path for a private astronaut to lead the powerful government space agency.
Here’s everything you need to know about Isaacman, his commercial mission in space and the long road to becoming a NASA administrator.
Jared Isaacman is pictured after returning to Earth after a five-day Polaris Dawn mission in space in September 2024.
Isaacman famously dropped out of school at 16 to start his internet payment processing company, Shift4 Payments, which is how he made his fortune.
A veteran aviator, Isaacman has also been to space twice — both private missions he helped fund that were launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
His first voyage came in 2021, when he was the commander of a first-of-its-kind mission known as Inspiration4.
Isaacman then returned in September 2024 with an all-civilian crew of amateur astronauts on a mission known as Polaris Dawn that he jointly funded with SpaceX. During the five-day spaceflight, Isaacman and his three crew members reached a historic high altitude aboard the SpaceX Dragon capsule and also performed the first commercial spacewalk.
Isaacman was confirmed by the US Senate on December 17 by a vote of 67-30.
While some senators expressed concern over Isaacman’s close relationship with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, he ultimately received overwhelming bipartisan support, with 16 Democrats approving his bid to 51 Republicans. All 30 votes against his confirmation were from Democrats. Reuters reported.
Jared Isaacman, US President Donald Trump’s nominee to be NASA administrator, testifies during a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on December 3.
NASA has been short of a full-time administrator since January. Now that he has been confirmed, Isaacman will officially succeed Bill Nelson, former President Joe Biden’s choice for NASA administrator and former astronaut and Democratic U.S. senator from Florida.
The Planetary Society, a nonprofit that advocates for space exploration, congratulated Isaacman in a press release on his “opportunity to stabilize and revitalize the U.S. space program.” With Bill Nye as chief executive, the organization has long followed Isaacman’s bid.
Sean Duffy, who has been serving as NASA’s acting administrator since July, said in a post on X, “I wish Jared every success as he begins his tenure leading NASA as we return to the moon in 2028 and beat China.”
Trump first announced Isaacman’s nomination in a post on Truth Social in December 2024, saying, “Jared will advance NASA’s mission of discovery and inspiration, paving the way for unprecedented achievements in space science, technology and exploration.”
Isaacman responded in a post on social media site X that he was “honored”.
“Fortunate enough to see our amazing planet from space, I’m excited about leading America on one of the most incredible adventures in human history,” Isaacman said in the post. “I can confidently say that this second space age has just begun.
The nomination was well received by most of the space community and members of Congress, who were ready to officially confirm Isaacman to the position.
But then Trump abruptly pulled the nomination in late May amid a tense public spat with SpaceX’s Musk, the world’s richest man and a staunch supporter of Isaacman’s bid.
Although Trump never offered a solid reason for the about-face, Isaacman faced some backlash in the Senate for his close relationship with Musk when the SpaceX founder left the White House. Other reports suggested that Trump’s decision may have been influenced by Isaacman’s past donations to Democrats, who said in a statement that “the next leader of NASA is fully aligned with President Trump’s America First agenda.”
Trump then appointed US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to do double duty by leading NASA as acting administrator in July. Duffy drew the ire of Musk in October when he indicated that NASA would consider lunar lander options from the company’s rivals in addition to SpaceX’s Starship for the upcoming Artemis 3 mission.
It will now be up to Isakman, a close aide to Musk, to consider whether to re-award the contract, which was first awarded to SpaceX in 2021.
In renominating Isaacman on Nov. 4, Trump said he was “ideally suited to lead NASA into a bold new era.”
Praising his “passion for space,” Trump said on Truth Social, “I am pleased to nominate Jared Isaacman, an accomplished business leader, philanthropist, pilot and astronaut, to be Administrator of NASA.”
Isaacman thanked Trump on social media and promised that under his leadership, NASA would “inspire the world once again.”
“I truly believe that the future we’ve all been waiting for will soon become a reality,” Isaacman said on social media site X.
Isaacman is poised to take over an agency facing historic budget cuts as it prepares for its first manned lunar mission in more than 50 years under the Artemis program.
As NASA’s top leader, Isaacman will oversee the world’s largest space agency as it prepares to return humans to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. The US is locked in a heated space race with rival China to get boots on the moon’s surface, and Trump has signaled that he wants to see a moon landing before the end of his second term.
Under NASA’s Artemis mission, which already sent an intact Orion capsule on a mission to orbit the moon in 2022, its Artemis 2 mission will carry four astronauts on a 10-day mission to orbit the moon in 2026. The moon landing itself will be attempted before 2027 during the Artemis 3 mission.
NASA astronauts will help establish permanent lunar settlements that will power future human missions from the Moon to Mars — a planet that has long been a target destination for Musk and SpaceX.
Contributed by: Reuters
Eric Lagatta is a Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jared Isaacman to be NASA’s next head. His long way to confirm
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