Billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman was confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday to be the brand new head of NASA, marking the tip of a dramatic saga that started greater than a 12 months in the past.
Isaacman was first tapped to guide NASA in December 2024 by then-President elect Donald Trump, however Trump abruptly withdrew the nomination 5 months later after “an intensive evaluate of prior associations.”
In an uncommon flip of occasions, Trump renominated Isaacman in November, saying that his expertise and fervour for house “make him ideally suited to guide NASA right into a daring new Period.”
The management change comes at a pivotal time for NASA, as questions persist over the house company’s future funds and priorities. Like different authorities businesses, NASA continues to be reeling from main cuts to funding and personnel as a part of the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the dimensions of the federal workforce.
The ultimate affirmation vote was 67-30.
The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee authorised Isaacman’s nomination after a Dec. 3 listening to by which he spoke about the necessity to return NASA astronauts to the moon earlier than China reaches the lunar floor.
Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican who chairs the committee, had stated he wished Isaacman confirmed by the tip of the 12 months.
Isaacman, 42, is founder and CEO of the fee processing firm Shift4 however has by no means labored at NASA or within the federal authorities. He’ll take management of the house company from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who had served as NASA’s interim administrator since July.
Throughout his listening to earlier than the Senate committee, Isaacman stated he’s targeted on returning to the moon and profitable the brand new house race with China. Each international locations wish to set up a long-term human presence on the lunar floor, however NASA’s Artemis program has confronted quite a few delays and cost-overruns. China’s house program, in the meantime, has superior at a livid tempo lately.
NASA goals to ship 4 astronauts on a flight across the moon subsequent 12 months in an important check of its next-generation rocket and spacecraft. If profitable, the house company stated it is going to try and land a crew close to the moon’s south pole in 2027. China has stated it plans to land its personal astronauts on the lunar floor by 2030.
Past NASA’s lunar ambitions, the house company faces uncertainty over its funding and targets. Earlier this 12 months, Trump’s funds blueprint instructed reducing greater than $6 billion, or roughly 24%, from NASA’s funding, however these proposals met sturdy opposition within the Home and Senate.
In his affirmation listening to, Isaacman confronted scrutiny over leaked paperwork often known as Venture Athena that outlined his imaginative and prescient for NASA. The 62-page plan, first obtained by Politico, instructed prioritizing Mars missions, specializing in nuclear electrical propulsion, overhauling some NASA facilities and majorly altering the house company’s science operations, together with a much bigger emphasis on commercialization.
Isaacman stated throughout the listening to that Venture Athena was a “draft doc” however stood by its content material, including that it was “all directionally appropriate.”
Questions additionally arose throughout the affirmation course of about Isaacman’s ties to Elon Musk. Isaacman has twice flown to house on business SpaceX missions, funding the flights himself for an undisclosed sum. Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX, as soon as a detailed Trump ally and backed Isaacman when he was first nominated.
The president’s determination to withdraw Isaacman’s nomination coincided with a public feud between Trump and Musk. In his affirmation listening to, Isaacman was grilled about his connection to Musk, together with how his personal enterprise dealings are intertwined with SpaceX.
Isaacman downplayed the affiliation, saying that his journeys to house had been with SpaceX as a result of it’s “the one group that may ship astronauts to and from house.”
“There are not any footage of us at dinner, at a bar, on an airplane or on a yacht as a result of they don’t exist,” Isaacman added.
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