The US Senate has confirmed billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman to serve as NASA administrator under Donald Trump. This confirmation makes a supporter of Mars missions and an ally SpaceX General manager Elon Musk 15th head of the space agency.
Vote on Isaacman, whom Trump nominated, removed, then renamed NASA He won a 67-30 vote this year, two weeks after he told senators at a second hearing that NASA must accelerate the pace to beat China to the moon this decade.
Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy, who also heads the US Transportation Department, congratulated Isaacman on Twitter/X, wishing Isaacman “success as he begins his tenure and leads NASA as we return to the Moon in 2028 and defeat China.”
Duffy lobbied to place the space agency under permanent control of his own bureau, a fight he lost with Isaacman's confirmation. Duffy's consolidation efforts sparked a conflict with Musk around the same time the transportation secretary said SpaceX had failed to honor contracts with NASA and looked at the competitors of a private companyspecifically Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin as an alternative.
Isaacman's nomination for the role was previously withdrawn in May while Musk and Trump were in a public feud. Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that Isaacman's donations to Democratic candidates there were reasons behind the move. However, in recent months, Isaacman has again become a candidate, and, according to the Wall Street Journalhe enlisted allies in the administration to advance his cause.
Isaacman's fortune came from creating a payment processing startup called Shift4, which now processes billions of transactions every year. He participated in two SpaceX missions, both of which he financed himself and supported entirely by civilian crews. Most recent was in 2024mission that included the first spacewalk conducted by a private company.
