The 41-year-old, whose call sign is ‘Rook’, has reserved two more flights with SpaceX, including a trip to lead Starship’s first crew around the Earth’s orbit …reports Asian Lite News
Jared Isaacman, a billionaire astronaut who led the first private spacewalk during a SpaceX mission in September, has been tapped by US President-elect Donald Trump to lead Nasa, the country’s top space agency. From being a high school dropout to a businessman and now a billionaire spacewalker, the 41-year-old brings with him a unique blend of business acumen, astronautical experience and a strong vision for the future of space exploration.
Isaacman, who will replace current administrator and former Florida Democratic senator Bill Nelson, is well-known in the space community for his involvement in private astronaut missions. A business aide of Musk, Isaacman commanded and funded two significant SpaceX commercial flights. He led the first all-civilian mission on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon in September 2021.
Three years later, he commanded another mission on Crew Dragon, which set several records, including the highest altitude achieved on a crewed mission since Apollo 17 in 1972 and the first private spacewalk. Isaacman funded this mission for an undisclosed amount with SpaceX, UK-based The Independent reported.
During the successful mission in September, crew members raised money for St Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Isaacman, a Jewish, was born in New Jersey on February 11, 1983, and dropped out of high school at 16. He got his General Educational Development (GED), which is equivalent to a high school diploma, and began working in his parents’ basement, according to The Independent. He is based in eastern Pennsylvania with his wife and their two daughters.
Isaacman is the chief executive and founder of Shift4, a payment services company and has also flown fighter jets. He is also the founder of Florida-based Draken International, which leases fighter jets that previously flew with the military before selling the company in 2019.
The 41-year-old, whose call sign is ‘Rook’, has reserved two more flights with SpaceX, including a trip to lead Starship’s first crew around the Earth’s orbit.
While tapping Isaacman, Trump emphasised the billionaire astronaut’s passion for space, astronaut experience and dedication to pushing the boundaries of exploration as reasons for his selection.
Isaacman has expressed a vision for Nasa that aligns with the advancement of a new commercial space era. He believes that space holds “unparalleled potential for breakthroughs in manufacturing, biotechnology, mining, and perhaps even pathways to new sources of energy”.
He aims to lead Nasa in “passionately pursuing” these possibilities and in ushering in an era where humanity becomes a true spacefaring civilisation.
Isaacman is expected to deepen the agency’s strategy of depending on private companies for accessing space as a commercial service. This has posed an existential threat to Nasa’s Space Launch System rocket, a massive, over-budget launch vehicle built by Boeing and Northrop Grumman and a crucial element of its Artemis programme alongside Starship.
If confirmed by the Senate, Isaacman, who has no government or political experience, would oversee Nasa’s roughly USD 25 billion budget. The space agency’s top priority has been returning humans to the moon under its Artemis programme, an effort promoted by Trump during his first term that will lean heavily on SpaceX’s Starship.
Atkins to head SEC
Trump has announced that he has nominated Paul Atkins, a former commissioner of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), to be the agency’s chairman. Atkins, the CEO, and founder of Patomak Global Partners, a risk management consultancy, served as an SEC commissioner from 2002-2008 under President George W. Bush.
The SEC has five commissioners, one of whom is designated as chairman by the President. The President nominates all five commissioners, and their appointments must be approved by the Senate.
Founded in 1934 at the height of the Great Depression, the SEC’s mission is to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation.
“Paul is a proven leader for common sense regulations. He believes in the promise of robust, innovative capital markets that are responsive to the needs of Investors, & that provide capital to make our Economy the best in the World,” Trump said on Wednesday in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.
“He also recognises that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before,” Trump noted.
Earlier, on Wednesday, Trump nominated Jared Isaacman, CEO of Shift4 who has led two private spaceflights, as the next administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and Daniel P. Driscoll, a US Army veteran and venture capitalist, to serve as the secretary of the Army. Both positions would need Senate approval.
Trump also picked his ex-aide Peter Navarro to serve as senior counselor for trade and manufacturing in his next administration and appointed David A. Warrington to serve as Assistant to the President and Counsel to the President.
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