President-elect Donald Trump has selected Jared Isaacman, an entrepreneur, pilot, and all-around space enthusiast, as the next administrator of NASA, marking a major change in the space agency’s leadership.
Trump made the announcement in a post on Truth Social, writing that Isaacson “will lead NASA’s mission of discovery and inspiration, paving the way for revolutionary advances in space science, technology, and exploration.” The last two administrators of NASA were former politicians, so the appointment of a billionaire astronaut to head the space agency is quite unconventional for it and may indicate that private business is playing a much larger role in the national space program.
After his first spacewalk, Isaacman said he was honored to receive the nomination. “I’ve been lucky enough to see our amazing planet from space, and I’m rooting for America to lead the most incredible adventure in human history,” Isaacman wrote on X.
In addition to being the founder and CEO of payment company Shift4, the billionaire was able to turn his personal passion for space into reality by leading two private astronaut missions. Isaacson’s first spaceflight, Inspiration4, launched in September 2021 with the first all-civilian crew to reach orbit.
Earlier in September, Isaacman led a four-person crew aboard the Dragon spacecraft for the Polaris Dawn mission, which reached a higher altitude than any other SpaceX crew capsule. During the private spaceflight, two crew members also stepped out of the capsule, making the first-ever commercial spacewalk and testing SpaceX-designed spacesuits in a vacuum. When it comes to commercial spaceflight, Polaris Dawn set the bar high and took on much more challenging tasks than conventional suborbital flights.
“On my last mission to space, my crew and I flew farther away from Earth than anyone in the last half century,” Isaacman wrote on X. “I can say with confidence that this second space age has just begun.
If we are to understand anything from this, it is that this “second space” era will likely see NASA make extensive use of outsourcing to private companies, continuing what is already an ongoing trend. As Trump’s second term approaches, there has been speculation that the president-elect may try to cancel NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which is poised to launch astronauts to the moon as part of the space agency’s Artemis program. NASA’s massive lunar rocket has been marred by delays and cost overruns, and could end up costing six times more than its original cost.
As a result, the space agency is struggling with its planned return to the moon, trying to keep within a tight budget while meeting an ambitious timeline for landing humans on Mars. NASA’s budget for 2024 was $24.875 billion, about half a billion less than the space agency received in 2023 and about $2.31 billion less than it had hoped to spend on its various programs this year. The agency needs more funding for its scientific research, while private industry is eager to make money from space.
With Isaacman at the helm of NASA, more attention may be paid to capitalizing on space. “Space has unprecedented potential for breakthroughs in manufacturing, biotechnology, mining, and perhaps even pathways to new energy sources,” Isaacson wrote. “A thriving space economy will inevitably emerge, creating opportunities for countless people to live and work in space.”
Also troubling is Isaacman’s close association with SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk (Isaacson’s missions rely on Falcon 9 rockets and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule). Musk is already a close ally of Trump, and with Isaacson at NASA, the SpaceX billionaire may get an unfair advantage in getting more contracts from the space agency, leading to a complete monopolization of the industry. Of course, the U.S. Senate still has to approve Isaacson’s candidacy for the post of head of the space agency.
This is not to say that Isaacman will not bring a much-needed fresh approach to NASA, as the space agency is sometimes burdened by bureaucracy and does not take as many risks as private industry. For better or worse, Isaacman’s appointment will mark a new era for NASA and spaceflight in general.
