Trump picks Musk aide Jared Isaacman to head Nasa

US President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday selected Jared Isaacman to lead Nasa, choosing the billionaire private astronaut and close associate of Elon Musk to head an agency with strong ties to Musk’s SpaceX business.

Isaacman, the CEO of payment processing company Shift4 Payments, has flown to space twice as part of his Polaris programme, which uses SpaceX vehicles and spacesuits to conduct fully private missions in Earth’s orbit.

If confirmed, Isaacman would oversee Nasa’s approximately $25 billion budget, with a significant focus on returning humans to the moon through the Artemis programme. This multibillion-dollar initiative, championed by Trump during his first term, will heavily rely on SpaceX’s Starship.

“Jared  will drive Nasa’s mission of discovery and inspiration, paving the way for groundbreaking achievements in Space science, technology, and exploration,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

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Trump’s selection for NASA came months earlier than typical presidential transitions, as Musk, the CEO and founder of SpaceX, has used his close relationship with the president-elect to discuss Mars missions and other space exploration initiatives that could benefit SpaceX. Trump attended SpaceX’s sixth Starship test launch in Texas last month.

At 41, Isaacman is expected to strengthen NASA’s strategy of relying on private companies for space access, a growing trend over the past decade that has challenged the agency’s Space Launch System rocket—an oversized, over-budget vehicle developed by Boeing and Northrop Grumman.

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Isaacman would also oversee Nasa’s aeronautics portfolio, which funds green aviation projects, and its extensive space science division, which has faced budget cuts and staff layoffs under President Joe Biden’s Nasa, as the agency prioritizes the Artemis program.

NASA’s most recent administrators were former politicians. Trump’s first NASA administrator, former Oklahoma congressman Jim Bridenstine, launched the Artemis programme and successfully lobbied Congress to increase Nasa’s budget to support it. Biden appointed former US Senator Bill Nelson from Florida to lead the agency.

With inputs from agencies