Who is Jared Isaacman? Trump pick for NASA administrator is a billionaire who paid for 2 SpaceX flights
Isaacman, founder of credit card payments company Shift4 Payments, is closely connected to Elon Musk, posing a potential conflict of interest.
President-elect Donald Trump announced today that his nominee for NASA administrator is Jared Isaacman. This is a position that requires confirmation by the Senate, which the Republicans control in a 53-to-47 majority. The incoming president made the announcement on Truth Social, which he partially owns.
Jared Isaacman currently serves as the founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, a credit card payment processing company. However, he is also a two-time spaceflight veteran: The billionaire CEO has flown on and paid for two SpaceX flights, 2021’s Inspiration4 and this year’s Polaris Dawn. Isaacman was one of the two participants on the first private spacewalk during that historic flight.
There are many questions about what Isaacman will do at NASA. It’s important to note he has a demonstrated interest in spaceflight, and is passionate about space science as well: Isaacman asked NASA if he could pay for and perform a Hubble Space Telescope reboost and servicing mission as part of his Polaris Program, though NASA declined the offer.
The nomination does come with conflicts of interest, however. Isaacman works closely with and pays SpaceX for the Polaris Program, which can be viewed as a collaboration rather than a strictly transactional endeavor. He is closely connected to SpaceX CEO and Trump advisor Elon Musk, which raises questions on how he will approach NASA’s contracts with private spaceflight companies.
Isaacman also cofounded Draken International, a defense contractor for the Air Force, in 2011 but sold his majority stake in the company in 2019.
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