Unlike previous NASA administrators, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for the role isn’t a politician, scientist or engineer, but a billionaire tech entrepreneur with close ties to Elon Musk’s aerospace ventures. Jared Isaacman, 41, is a longtime space enthusiast who made a killing off the payment processing business and has twice traveled to space with SpaceX.
Given his history working with private space companies, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Isaacman’s vision for space exploration’s future includes an emphasis on the commercial space industry. “They’re all generally doing the same thing, which is putting a lot of their own dollars on the line because they believe in the future it holds,” Isaacman said Dec. 11 while speaking at a conference held by the Space Force Association, a nonprofit associated with the U.S. Space Force.
The remarks were made during Isaacman’s first public appearance since his Dec. 4 NASA nomination. “Having been fortunate to see our amazing planet from space, I am passionate about America leading the most incredible adventure in human history,” said Isaacman in a post on X responding to the nomination, adding that “there will inevitably be a thriving space economy—one that will create opportunities for countless people to live and work in space.”
Thanks to Shift4 Payments, a payment processing firm Isaacman founded in 1999, the entrepreneur has an estimated net worth of $1.7 billion. Besides acting as CEO of the commerce company, Isaacman is an experienced jet pilot and co-founder of Draken International, a defense company that trains Air Force pilots and was bought by the Blackstone (BX) Group in 2020.
He also has an avid interest in what lies beyond Earth, having previously used his fortune to fund two separate SpaceX missions. Isaacman in 2021 commanded the Inspiration4 mission, the world’s first all-civilian spaceflight. Launched by SpaceX, it sent Isaacman and three other private citizens to orbit during a three-day flight that raised more than $200 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Isaacman’s partnership with SpaceX subsequently expanded into the Polaris Program, which aims to execute a total of three missions demonstrating capabilities to advance human spaceflight exploration. In September, the first of these missions—Polaris Dawn—saw Isaacman lead a four-person crew into orbit via a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and become the first private citizen to complete a spacewalk.
Given Isaacman’s recent NASA appointment, it might be a while before the billionaire takes to the stars again. “The future of the Polaris Program is a question mark at the moment,” said Isaacman yesterday. “It may wind up on hold for a little bit. We’ll have to see.”
Isaacman’s relationship to SpaceX extends beyond his forays into Space. His firm Shift4 Payments has invested $27.5 million into the company as of 2021, according to financial filings. Musk, who has headed SpaceX since its founding in 2002, publicly congratulated the private astronaut on his NASA nod earlier this month.
Trump’s selection has raised questions about whether Isaacman’s leadership will favor SpaceX when it comes to the billion-dollar contracts NASA awards private space companies. Jeff Bezos, founder of SpaceX rival Blue Origin, appeared to dismiss such concerns last week when commenting that he takes at “face value” that Musk won’t “use his political power to advantage his own companies, or to disadvantage his competitors.”
Isaacman, too, made it clear that SpaceX isn’t the only private spaceflight venture he’s a fan of. Besides lauding SpaceX’s milestone test flight of its Starship rocket in October, the billionaire noted his excitement for Blue Origin’s upcoming New Glenn launch and praised Peter Beck’s Rocket Labs as a “small, scrappy startup.”
