Inspiration4 mission commander Jared Isaacman, founder and chief executive officer of Shift4 Payments, stands for a portrait in front of the recovered first stage of a Falcon 9 rocket at Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) on February 2, 2021 in Hawthorne, California.
Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty Images
President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday nominated Jared Isaacman, the billionaire CEO of Shift4 who has led two private spaceflights, to be the next head of NASA.
“Jared will drive NASA’s mission of discovery and inspiration, paving the way for groundbreaking achievements in Space science, technology, and exploration,” Trump wrote in a post on social media.
Isaacman accepted Trump’s nomination to be NASA administrator in a statement: “Having been fortunate to see our amazing planet from space, I am passionate about America leading the most incredible adventure in human history.”
“It is the honor of a lifetime to serve in this role and to work alongside NASA’s extraordinary team to realize our shared dreams of exploration and discovery,” Isaacman said.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is currently led by Administrator Bill Nelson, nominated in 2021 by President Joe Biden. Nelson did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Isaacman has led two private spaceflights through SpaceX, commanding a pair of crews on multiday trips around the Earth.
His spaceflight ambitions have fostered an increasingly close relationship with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who has become an influential figure in Trump’s administration planning.
Jared Isaacman, Mission Commander, steps out of the manned Polaris Dawn mission’s “Dragon” capsule after it splashed down off the coast of Dry Tortugas, Florida, after completing the first human spaceflight mission by non-government astronauts of the Polaris Program.
– | Afp | Getty Images
In addition to running payments company Shift4, Isaacman has been leading an effort called the Polaris Program — a trio of missions with increasingly ambitious goals.
The first mission in that program, Polaris Dawn, launched earlier this year and saw Isaacman conduct a brief spacewalk from SpaceX’s Dragon capsule — the company’s first such extravehicular activity, or EVA, in space.
“Back at home we all have a lot of work to do, but from here, Earth sure looks like a perfect world,” Isaacman said during the spacewalk after emerging from the capsule.
