Jared Isaacman | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2025 | |
| 15thAdministrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration | |
| Assumed office December 18, 2025 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | Bill Nelson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jared Taylor Isaacman (1983-02-11)February 11, 1983 (age 43) Summit, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Spouse | Monica Isaacman[1] |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Worldwide (BS) |
| Space career | |
Commercial astronaut | |
Time in space | 7 days, 21 hours, 17 minutes |
TotalEVAs | 1 |
Total EVA time | 7 minutes, 56 seconds[2] |
| Missions | |
Jared Taylor Isaacman (born February 11, 1983) is an American billionaire entrepreneur, pilot, and commercial astronaut who has served as the 15thadministrator of NASA since December 2025. He is the founder ofShift4 Payments, apayment processor, and the founder ofDraken International, which provides adversary training to theU.S.,British, and other NATO air forces.[3] As of May 2025, his estimated net worth is US$1.4 billion.[4][5]
Isaacman commandedInspiration4 – the first all-civilian spaceflight – usingSpaceX'sCrew DragonResilience which launched fromKennedy Space Center on September 16, 2021. He later ledPolaris Dawn, during which he became the first private citizen to perform aspacewalk.[6]
In December 2024, President Donald Trump nominated him to serve as the 15th administrator of NASA.[7] During his April 2025 confirmation hearing, Isaacman emphasized his outsider status and entrepreneurial background, stating his intent to usher in a "new Golden Age of Science and Discovery" at the agency.[8] He faced questions over his close ties toElon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, one of NASA's largest contractors.[9] On May 31, 2025, Trump, among several actions preceding hisfeud with Elon Musk, withdrew Isaacman's nomination to serve as NASA administrator.[10] He was renominated on November 4, 2025.[11] He was confirmed as NASA administrator by the Senate on December 17, 2025 and sworn in the following day.[12]
Isaacman was born on February 11, 1983, atOverlook Hospital inSummit, New Jersey, to Donald and Sandra Marie Isaacman.[13][14] He is the youngest of four children and is of Jewish descent.[15][16][17]. His family lived inUnion Township before moving toWestfield, New Jersey, around 1987, and later to theLiberty Corner section ofBernards Township when he was 12.[18]
He attended Wilson Elementary School in Westfield and William Annin Middle School in Bernards Township.[19] While a student atRidge High School, he launched a computer services business with a friend. At age 16, he left school to work full-time, later earning aGED.[20] He received a bachelor's degree with a major in professional aeronautics from the fully onlineEmbry–Riddle Aeronautical University, Worldwide Campus, in 2011.[21][22]
In 1999, Isaacman founded United Bank Card, later renamed Harbortouch and thenShift4 Payments, a point-of-sale payments company. He has been CEO since its inception. By 2015, the company was generating $300 million in revenue and processing $11 billion annually.[23] By 2020, it had scaled to $200 billion in payments per year.[3] In the same year, Isaacman took Shift4 public and began processing payments for SpaceX's satellite-internet business,Starlink.[24]
In 2012, Isaacman co-foundedDraken International, a Florida-based defense aerospace company that operated one of the world’s largest fleets of privately ownedfighter jets.[23][25] The company provided adversary training to U.S. military pilots and managed hundreds of millions in defense contracts, which Isaacman said saved taxpayers billions of dollars.[8]
.jpg)
On December 4, 2024, Isaacman was nominated by President-electDonald Trump to serve as the 15thadministrator ofNASA, marking the first time a president-elect had named a nominee for the position before taking office.[26] His nomination was formally submitted on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2025.[7] This made Trump both NASA's earliest and most-recent nominating president, following the September 2017 selection ofJim Bridenstine during his first presidency.
Isaacman's nomination received broad support from both political and aerospace circles. SenatorTed Cruz, chair of theCommittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, received endorsements from 24 former astronauts,Alabama governorKay Ivey, and a coalition of southern governors urging swift confirmation.[27] However, critics raised concerns about his ties to SpaceX and Elon Musk, fearing NASA might prioritize aMars landing driven by SpaceX's ambitions at the expense of theArtemis mission to theMoon and other programs.[28] These concerns intensified following Musk's calls to decommission theInternational Space Station and for abandonment of lunar exploration in favor of acceleratedMars missions, statements that provoked sharp criticism from Cruz.[29]
In a March 12 letter to the Senate, Isaacman pledged to resign from his role at Shift4 and cancel the remaining Polaris Program missions if confirmed.[30] He reiterated this commitment during his April 9 confirmation hearing, and assured lawmakers that the Artemis andCommercial Lunar Payload Services programs would remain top priorities under his leadership.[31][32]
Over nearly three hours of testimony, Isaacman presented a vision of revitalizing NASA with a "mission-first" culture focused on efficiency, innovation, and strategic leadership in space. While expressing support forArtemis II andIII using theSpace Launch System rocket and theOrion spacecraft, he questioned the long timelines and high costs of these systems, asking, "Why is it taking us so long, and why is it costing us so much to go to the Moon?" Isaacman advocated for data-driven reviews of their future roles, signaling that they may not be viable long-term solutions for deep space exploration. He also pledged to extend the life of the ISS through 2030 and expand scientific output through public-private partnerships. Asked about the Trump Administration'sGolden Dome plans, he emphasized space as "the high ground" and "of great strategic importance" and that there would be a more "unified approach" between NASA and theDepartment of Defense to avoid duplicative spending.[33] Pressed by senators on restructuring, conflicts of interest, and the rationale for Mars exploration, Isaacman emphasized transparency, independence, and a dual-track approach to Moon and Mars.[32] Isaacman also opposed a proposal by the White House to cut 50% of NASA's science budget and 20% of their overall budget in 2026.[34]
When asked byEd Markey about his ties to Musk, Isaacman denied that they were close, adding that he had not disclosed his plans for NASA to Musk, and that he had only been interviewed by Trump when offered the job.[35] However, when asked by Markey whether or not Musk was present at his interview with Trump, Isaacman refused to directly answer.[36]
The committee also brought up an incident where Isaacman had been arrested at the Canadian border in 2010 forfraudulent checks, with Isaacman responding that he had resolved the issue and the charges were dropped. Court records also revealed that Isaacman had been sued four times for check fraud. Isaacman responded saying that the cases were resolved and that the behavior was in his past.[37]
Isaacman passed the Senate Committee vote 19–9 on April 30.[38]
On May 31,Semafor reported that theWhite House had withdrawn Isaacman's nomination.[10] Trump later stated that the withdrawal was due to Isaacman's "prior associations", referring to his past political donations to Democratic candidates.[39] According toThe New York Times, Trump had been aware of those donations during hispresidential transition.[40] A White House spokesperson defended the decision, stating that it was "essential that the next leader of NASA is in complete alignment with President Trump's America First agenda". HoweverArs Technica reported that the withdrawal was a way to punish Elon Musk, as the decision came just days after he announced he would be pulling back from his role in the Trump Administration.[41]Axios corroborated this claim, adding that Trump advisor and Musk criticSergio Gor was a major driving figure behind Isaacman's rescinded nomination.[42]
On July 9, Isaacman said in an interview that he was considering running for Congress as a Republican. "I don't think my story in politics is over," he said. "Once I got over some of the initial intimidation factor of being in the arena, I felt like I could actually help and contribute. There will be something else."[43]
On October 9,Bloomberg News reported that Isaacman had met with Trump several times to discuss the possibility of reconsidering his nomination.[44]Reuters corroborated the report several days later, stating that Isaacman had been interviewed by acting NASA administratorSean Duffy as a potential successor to the role.[45] However,The Wall Street Journal reported that a power struggle between Isaacman and Duffy had begun to emerge over the permanent position, drawing particular attention amid reports that Duffy had expressed interest in folding NASA into theDepartment of Transportation.[46][47]
On November 4, Trump announced that he was again nominating Isaacman to serve as NASA administrator.[48][49] After his renomination, Isaacman also faced scrutiny over a leaked internal reform proposal, known as "Project Athena", which outlined plans to restructure NASA and was reported to have been disclosed by associates of Duffy.[50]
Project Athena is a 62-page policy blueprint drafted by Isaacman and his advisors in early 2025 following his nomination as NASA administrator. The plan seeks to return NASA to "achieving the near impossible" by focusing on three core goals: leading the world in human space exploration, igniting the space economy, and becoming a multiplier for science. It has received particular attention through proposals such as reforming NASA's spending and investment returns, transitioning away fromcost-plus contracts for theSpace Launch System rocket andOrion spacecraft, and potentially repurposing elements of theLunar Gateway space station for anuclear-poweredspace tug. Additionally, Project Athena calls for expanding partnerships with the commercial space industry (most notably SpaceX andBlue Origin) in order to stretch public funding and maintain competitive advantage.[51]
Isaacman's second Senate confirmation hearing was held on December 3, during which he defended the Project Athena proposal and sought to reassure lawmakers that he would preserve existing congressional priorities for the agency.[52][53][54]
Isaacman was confirmed by the Senate on December 17 by a vote of 67–30.[55] He was officially sworn in the following day.[56] On the same day, Trump signed anexecutive order directing NASA to return American astronauts to the Moon by 2028 and establish initial elements of a permanent lunar base with a nuclear reactor by 2030.[57]
_(7-28-2023).jpg)
Isaacman has logged over 7,000 flight hours. He co-founded theBlack Diamond Jet Team, in 2010, which performs atairshows.[25][58] He made two attempts to break the world record for circumnavigating the globe in a light jet, achieving the record in 2009 with a time of 61 hours, 51 minutes, and 15 seconds—about 20 hours faster than the previous record.[23][59][60] He received the call sign "Rook" during fighter jet training.[61]
Isaacman is flight-qualified in multiplemilitary jet aircraft including theA-4,Alpha,F-5,L-39,L-159,MB-339,MiG-29UB,T-33, andT-38 along with multiple civilian jet aircraft including theChallenger 650,Citation Mustang,CitationJet andPremier.[62]
In February 2021, Isaacman announced he would commandInspiration4, the first orbital mission with no professional astronauts aboard. Operated by SpaceX using the Crew Dragon spacecraft, it launched on September 15, 2021, and orbited Earth for three days.[63][64][65][66] During the mission, Isaacman placed the first known sports bets from space.[67] The flight raised over $250 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a cause Isaacman championed throughout the mission.[8]
In 2024, Isaacman ledPolaris Dawn, the first mission in the privately fundedPolaris Program.[68] The four-person crew reached a peak altitude of 1,400 km (870 mi), farther away from Earth than any human has gone since the last time Americans walked on the Moon, before lowering to 700 km (430 mi). On September 12, Isaacman and crewmateSarah Gillis performed the first privateextravehicular activity (EVA), becoming the first civilians to conduct a spacewalk, technically a Stand-up EVA (SEVA) as at no point did either crew-member fully exit the spacecraft.[6] Over the five-day flight, the crew conducted 40 science experiments and demonstrated Starlink laser-based communications in orbit.[69][67]
In 2021, Isaacman financed the first all-civilian mission to orbit to benefitSt. Jude Children's Research Hospital.[70] Isaacman commanded the three-day spaceflight and raised over $250 million for St. Jude, pledging over $100 million of his own money.[71]
That same year, Isaacman and his family signedThe Giving Pledge, an agreement to donate at least half their fortune tophilanthropic causes.[70]
He also donated $10 million to theU.S. Space & Rocket Center, the Huntsville, Alabama museum and education center that offersSpace Camp, which Isaacman attended as a child.[70] He donated $10 million in 2021 to theNational Naval Aviation Museum Foundation in honor of Navy pilotDale Snodgrass.[70] Isaacman made another donation to the center in 2025, giving $15 million to fund programs for students and a new dormitory for Space Camp.[72]
Isaacman is ethnically Jewish, though he has stated he is not religious.[73] He is married to Monica Isaacman and has two daughters.[8] Isaacman has been a resident ofWashington Township, New Jersey.[59]
Jared Isaacman, the Westfield native who orbited Earth on the 'Resilience' mission last fall, visited Wilson Elementary on Wednesday. [...] Besides attending Westfield Public Schools from kindergarten through sixth grade many years ago, Isaacman was the commander of an all-civilian crew of the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, dubbed Resilience, that orbited Earth last September.
When Jared Isaacman dropped out of Ridge High School more than 20 years ago to pursue a successful career in business, it seemed like the sky was the limit.... In the same interview, he also mentioned his former hometown of Bernards Township.
