Photo: John Kraus / Polaris Dawn
Jared Isaacman, the billionaire entrepreneur, philanthropist, and private astronaut, has been nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as the next Administrator of NASA. Isaacman, best known to the general public as the commander of both the groundbreaking Inspiration4 and Polaris Dawn space missions and the first private citizen to conduct a spacewalk, is also the CEO of the payment processing giant Shift4, a rapidly growing company that Isaacman started when he was sixteen years old.
Isaacman’s Reaction To The Nomination
“The future of space exploration depends on collaboration between government agencies, private companies, and international partners,” Isaacman said in a statement following the announcement of his nomination. “If confirmed, I’ll work tirelessly to ensure NASA remains at the forefront of innovation and exploration.”
Isaacman’s Qualifications, In Brief
If confirmed, Jared Isaacman would be the only NASA Administrator to have commanded a space mission and to have flown to space twice. He would also be the only NASA Administrator who has future flights in planning stages — there are three more Polaris missions slated to fly, though potential launch dates have not been released by the program.
Photo: SpaceX Livestream
Isaacman is also well qualified to lead the “second A” in NASA, that is, the Aeronautic side. As an aviator, Isaacman holds multiple world records for flight, including a record-breaking circumnavigation of the globe in a light jet. In 2019, Isaacman purchased a Soviet-era Mikoyan MiG-29 fighter jet from the estate of Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, a plane he regularly flies himself.
The nomination will now need to be confirmed by the US Senate after it is sworn in and convenes in January 2025.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Florida Media Now
