President-elect Donald Trump has asked Jared Isaacman to lead NASA. The commander of the Polaris space program has led two missions to orbit with SpaceX. He has accepted his nomination to lead the space agency for the incoming administration, and we couldn’t be happier about it.
NASA has long been a victim of establishment politicians and legacy contractors that take forever to produce results while robbing tax payers. Below are comments from Isaacman on X:
Getting NASA back on track
“Jared will drive NASA’s mission of discovery and inspiration, paving the way for groundbreaking achievements in space science, technology, and exploration,” said Trump on his Truth Social platform.
SpaceX leader Elon Musk will be in charge of a new Department of Government Efficiency, advising President Trump and the White House on slashing federal waste and spending.
With Musk in such a role, it’s no surprise that Isaacman was nominated. He knows how to run a business (he is a billionaire), has a solid understanding of the new era of commercial spaceflight, and knows what needs to be done at NASA to get the agency back on track.
I had the opportunity to fly with Isaacman some time ago in his MiG-29, which he and Polaris use for astronaut training. You can read all about that here.
Perhaps most importantly, Isaacman is just a good person. He opens doors for people who are hungry for opportunity who work hard, and does a lot of charity work with St Jude Children’s Hospital and others. Every Polaris space mission raises a substantial amount of money for St Jude. On Inspiration4, one of his crew was even a former patient. We encourage you all to donate here.
Isaacman will oversee NASA’s $25 billion budget and Artemis program to return to the moon
If his nomination is confirmed, Isaacman will oversee NASA’s $25 billion budget, which is heavily focused on returning humans to the moon under the agency’s Artemis program.
NASA long ago chose to develop the Space Launch System (SLS) to get it done, with a rocket developed from heritage space shuttle hardware modified for the new program. The Boeing-built rocket isn’t even reusable, yet it costs billions of dollars. Some coincidence that Boeing’s Starliner program too is over budget and taking far too long.
To date, NASA has only flown one Artemis mission with SLS, on an un-crewed test flight to send the Lockheed-made Orion crew capsule to the moon and back. The first crewed mission to lunar orbit is set to launch late in 2025, at the earliest.
Because of this, the SLS is controversial at best. Why should tax payers support it, when private industry like SpaceX can do it much faster and cheaper? SpaceX has been developing a new heavy-lift reusable rocket and spacecraft called Starship, and have already flown 6 flight tests. However, not to the moon obviously, or even a multi-day orbital mission, but they will. Everything SpaceX has said they will do over the last decade, they have done.
Under the Artemis program, Starship is contracted to be the vehicle used to land crews on the moon (and launch them back to lunar orbit to dock with Orion for the trip home). Isaacman and Polaris are slated to be the first crew to ever fly on a Starship.
The mission design begs to question, why even use SLS or Orion at all? For jobs? Because crooked politicians who are owned by Boeing and Lockheed said so?
Funny enough, just a few hours after Isaacman’s nomination was announced, NASA scheduled a press conference about Artemis for Dec 5. You can watch it live at 1pm Eastern time on NASA+ or stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.
Isaacman will make NASA foster more private industry to help keep America as the leader in space
Like Musk, Isaacman wants NASA fostering more private industry to help keep America as the world leader in space. After all, it was NASA seed money that gave SpaceX the foundation it needed to thrive. SpaceX exists because of NASA contracts, and Elon has repeatedly thanked NASA over the years.
NASA is only as good as our leaders in charge of the agency are. With Isaacman in command, there is hope that the once great space agency will return and do things right.
And maybe, hopefully, with Isaacman in charge NASA will again be open to the press who try to tell their story to the tax payers. Over the years the agency has virtually shut the press out, other than allowing access to launches and press conferences filled with talking points. Launches alone are not the story. Freedom of the Press has been anything but with the agency for many years now.
