Jared Isaacman, Inspiration4 mission commander and Shift4 Payments founder and CEO, aboard a Falcon 9 recovered by SpaceX on February 2, 2021 in Hawthorne, California. A portrait was taken in front of the first stage of the No. 1 rocket.
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President-elect Donald Trump Billionaire Jared Isaacman named CEO on Wednesday Shift4 who led two private spaceflightbecoming the next NASA administrator.
“Jared will advance NASA’s mission of discovery and inspiration, paving the way for groundbreaking achievements in space science, technology and exploration,” Trump wrote in the letter. a post on social media.
Isaacman accepts Trump’s nomination to serve as NASA administrator statement: “Having the privilege of seeing our amazing planet from space, I am passionate about America’s leadership on the most incredible adventure in human history.”
“It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve in this role and work with the outstanding team at NASA to realize our shared dreams of exploration and discovery,” Isaacman said.
Isaacman said he plans to leave Shift4 once he is confirmed as NASA administrator. in a Letter to Shift4 EmployeesIsaacman wrote that he intends to “remain as CEO until I am confirmed” and “retain a majority of my equity ownership,” but with reduced shareholder voting rights.
Mission commander Jared Isaacman steps out of the Crew Dragon capsule of the manned Polaris Dawn mission in Dry Tottu, Florida, after completing the first crewed mission of the Polaris Program’s non-government astronauts. Gas coast splashdown.
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NASA is currently led by Administrator Bill Nelson, nominated by the President in 2021 Joe Biden. Nielsen did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Nielsen is a former U.S. senator who currently oversees NASA’s nearly $25 billion budget. During his tenure, NASA launched its first unmanned mission, the multibillion-dollar Artemis moon landing program, among its top priorities. But subsequent manned missions were planned to ultimately return U.S. astronauts to the lunar surface, Seriously delayed and over budget.
Isaacman has led two private space flights through SpaceX in 2021 and 2024, commanding two crew members on a multi-day trip around the Earth.
His space ambitions and SpaceX CEO’s growing ties Elon Muskhas become an influential figure in Trump administration planning.
Isaacman has previously criticized NASA’s Artemis architecture, particularly the program’s Huge investment in expendable SLS rocket and decisions granted by the agency Contract for second manned lunar lander arrive Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin.
“Billions of dollars were spent on lunar lander redundancy that SLS didn’t have at the expense of dozens of science projects. I didn’t like that,” Isaacman writes in the book. a post earlier this year.
Polaris Dawn commander Jared Isaacman steps out of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule during a spacewalk on September 12, 2024.
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In addition to running payments company Shift4, Isaacman leads a project called Project North Star, a triple mission with increasingly ambitious goals.
The program’s first mission, Polaris Dawn, launched earlier this year and saw Isaacman conducts brief spacewalk Dragon capsule from SpaceX – the company’s first such extravehicular activity (EVA) in space.
“We all have a lot of work to do back home, but from here on out, Earth does look like a perfect world,” Isaacman said during the spacewalk after emerging from the capsule.
