President Donald Trump has once again nominated Jared Isaacman to lead NASA, after cancelling his first nomination earlier this year. The tech billionaire and commander of the Polaris space program has led two missions to orbit with SpaceX, with more planned.
Should he become NASA Administrator, he will lead the agency’s journey back to the moon with the Artemis program, which is set to fly the first crew into lunar orbit as soon as spring 2026.
Trump nominated Isaacman in December 2024, but then discovered he previously donated to Democrats. The President’s relationship with Elon Musk was also falling apart at the time, someone who Isaacman has a close relationship with. Elon owns SpaceX and has worked very closely with NASA now for many years. The development of SpaceX was seeded in large part by NASA contracts, to foster commercial crew and cargo services that can fly cheaper and more frequently.
In a post on Truth Social this week, Trump said “Jared’s passion for Space, astronaut experience, and dedication to pushing the boundaries of exploration, unlocking the mysteries of the universe, and advancing the new Space economy, make him ideally suited to lead NASA into a bold new Era.”
Isaacman accepted his renomination to lead the space agency, releasing a formal statement thanking the President and looking ahead.
“Thank you, Mr. President for this opportunity. It will be an honor to serve my country under your leadership. The support from the space-loving community has been overwhelming. I am not sure how I earned the trust of so many, but I will do everything I can to live up to those expectations.”
Back to the Moon Before the End of Trump’s Presidency?
China is aiming to land their astronauts on the moon by 2030. NASA wants to land the first Artemis crew on the moon in 2027, but that’s highly unlikely since SpaceX’s Starship – the lander NASA has contracted for the first landing on Artemis III – is not even close to ready. It also needs to fly many operational missions safely, before NASA will feel confident, and that takes time.
NASA wants to let Blue Origin to compete their lander for the first Artemis landings. Blue Origin intends to launch an uncrewed lander to the moon in the coming months, to prove they can do it, and NASA wants to say whoever is ready first – wins.
The President wants the first landing to occur before the end of his term, but his proposed budget for NASA would slash about 24%, over $6 billion. Fallout from cuts to the federal workforce do not help.
If confirmed, Isaacman would no doubt run NASA more like a business, relying on hiring private industry for the heavy lifting. NASA’s SLS rocket and Orion would be cancelled, and he wants to see NASA buying science data from commercial companies, not building, launching and operating its own satellites.
“I want to reorganize and reenergize NASA, focus on American leadership in space, unlock the orbital economy, and accelerate world-changing discoveries,” says Isaacman.
