Who Is Jared Isaacman? Trump Re-Nominates Elon Musk Ally To Lead NASA

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday nominated private astronaut and Elon Musk's ally Jared Isaacman to serve as NASA Administrator.

“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,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

Earlier this year, Isaacman was removed from consideration following a public falling out between Trump and Musk. Subsequently, Sean Duffy was appointed as the acting NASA chief. The nomination now requires Senate (where Trump's Republican Party holds a 53-47 majority) confirmation before Isaacman can officially assume the role.

Trump has nominated the billionaire private astronaut to lead NASA five months after withdrawing his earlier nomination. Isaacman, 42, who commanded two private SpaceX orbital missions, is once again in line to become the space agency’s next chief.

Isaacman is a billionaire entrepreneur, investor and private astronaut. He is also the founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, a financial transactions company. He is also an amateur jet pilot with thousands of flight hours.

Isaacman flew to orbit twice on all-private astronaut missions. In 2021, he commanded the Inspiration4 mission, the first all-private crew to reach Earth orbit. He led four civilian astronauts on a three-day mission aboard a SpaceX rocket. He funded the mission personally, according to a Reuters report.

In September 2024, he returned to orbit on the Polaris Dawn mission. Funded and led by him, the mission carried a four-member civilian crew to orbit. During this trip, he conducted the world’s first private spacewalk alongside a SpaceX engineer.

He supports a long-term vision to return astronauts to the Moon under NASA's Artemis programme by 2027. He is interested in eventually shifting the focus towards "the near-impossible that no one else will work on, like nuclear electric propulsion,” according to Reuters.

He has also expressed support for maximising the remaining life of the International Space Station. He advocates building a commercial “orbital economy” with various private sector interests in space, the agency report added.