Jared Isaacman, Inspiration4 mission commander and founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, recovers a Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX on February 2, 2021 in Hawthorne, California Portrait taken before first level.
Patrick T. Fallon AFP | Getty Images
President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday nominated billionaire executive Jared Isaacman Shift4 He has led two private space flights and will become the next head of NASA.
“Jared will advance NASA’s mission of discovery and inspiration, paving the way for groundbreaking achievements in space science, technology and exploration,” Trump wrote in the letter. a post on social media.
Isaacman accepts Trump’s nomination to serve as NASA administrator statement: “Having the privilege of seeing our amazing planet from space, I am passionate about America’s leadership on the most incredible adventure in human history.”
“It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve in this role and work with the outstanding team at NASA to realize our shared dreams of exploration and discovery,” Isaacman said.
Isaacman said he plans to leave Shift4 once he is confirmed as NASA administrator. in a Letter to Shift4 EmployeesIsaacman wrote that he intends to “remain as CEO until I am confirmed” and “retain a majority of my equity ownership,” but with reduced shareholder voting rights.
Mission commander Jared Isaacman steps out of the Crew Dragon capsule on the manned Polaris Dawn mission in Gantottu, Florida, after completing the first manned space mission of the Polaris program’s non-government astronauts. Gas coast splashdown.
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NASA is currently led by Administrator Bill Nelson, who was nominated by President Joe Biden in 2021. Nielsen did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Nielsen is a former U.S. senator who currently oversees NASA’s nearly $25 billion budget. During his tenure, NASA launched its first unmanned mission, the multibillion-dollar Artemis moon landing program, among its top missions. But a subsequent planned manned mission, ultimately designed to return U.S. astronauts to the lunar surface, was severely delayed and over budget.
Isaacman led two private space flights through SpaceX in 2021 and 2024, commanding two crew members on a multi-day trip around the Earth.
His aerospace ambitions have become increasingly closely aligned with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who has become an influential figure in the planning of the Trump administration.
Isaacman has previously criticized NASA’s Artemis architecture, particularly the program’s huge spending on the expendable SLS rocket and the agency’s decision to award a second crewed lunar lander contract to Jeff Bay. Zoth’s Blue Origin.
“Billions of dollars were spent on lunar lander redundancy that SLS didn’t have at the expense of dozens of science projects. I didn’t like that,” Isaacman writes in the book. a post earlier this year.
Polaris Dawn commander Jared Isaacman steps out of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule during a spacewalk on September 12, 2024.
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation
In addition to running payments company Shift4, Isaacman leads a project called Project Polaris, a triple mission with increasingly ambitious goals.
The program’s first mission, Polaris Dawn, launched earlier this year and saw Isaacman perform a brief spacewalk in SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, the company’s first such extravehicular activity in space. (EVA).
“We all have a lot of work to do back home, but from here on out, Earth does look like a perfect world,” Isaacman said during the spacewalk after emerging from the capsule.
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