Considering the American public’s response to Jared Isaacman‘s renomination as the next NASA administrator, it seems many are relieved to have the billionaire back in the picture. Several industry experts hailed US President Donald Trump’s decision to renominate him for the job, after withdrawing it few months earlier, as Isaacman seems determined to revamp the world’s largest space agency.
Trump announced on November 5 that Isaacman is his choice again to take over the NASA head post from acting administrator and Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy. Isaacman was first nominated in late 2024 but he fell out of the race earlier this year allegedly due to his past donations to Democrats and internal politics. But in the last few weeks, Isaacman privately met Trump multiple times as tensions seemed to ease.
Thank you, Mr. President @POTUS, for this opportunity. It will be an honor to serve my country under your leadership. I am also very grateful to @SecDuffy, who skillfully oversees @NASA alongside his many other responsibilities.
The support from the space-loving community has… pic.twitter.com/CUpyTXfB14
— Jared Isaacman (@rookisaacman) November 4, 2025
Will Isaacman ‘save’ NASA?
During the US Senate committee hearing in April, Isaacman, in the presence of Artemis 2 astronauts, had shared his plans of solidifying NASA’s position as a leader in space. As administrator, he said he will prioritise Mars while simultaneously working to establish sustainable human presence on the Moon.
Isaacman’s nomination has restored hopes in industry experts because he is not just a billionaire, but an individual with actual spaceflight experience. He funded and commanded the private SpaceX missions Inspiration4 (2021) and Polaris Dawn (2024) and is the first person to conduct a private spacewalk. He is also an experienced aviator and the founder of private defense and aerospace company Draken international.
Among his backers is his friend and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who is a vocal critic of Duffy and wanted someone with relevant experience to lead NASA. Musk even mocked Duffy for his ‘tree-climbing’ abilities while demanding his departure from the role. Duffy is reportedly a world champion lumberjack speed climber.
Isaacman’s vision for NASA
Apart from his desire to plant US flags on the Moon and Mars, Isaacman is also determined to cut costs while producing historic results. He is completely against NASA manufacturing its own rockets as it entails outrageous delays and overwhelming cost overruns. The Space Launch System (SLS), for example, that NASA is building, was supposed to debut in 2016 but took its first flight on November 16, 2022 during Artemis 1. NASA intends to launch more Artemis missions on the SLS.
The six year delay added billions to the budget and is significantly driving the overall cost of the Artemis Program – NASA’s endeavour to return to the Moon. In a 2023 report, NASA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) revealed that the SLS and Orion spacecraft cost is jointly estimated at about $4.1 billion each for first four Artemis missions. Besides, the spending on the program between FY 2012-2025 will reportedly be around $93 billion, out which the SLS will consume nearly $24 billion.
“It’s a problem when NASA is in the business of building rockets, and so is Blue Origin, and so is SpaceX,” Isaacman said in a recent interview. “NASA needs to constantly be recalibrating to do the near impossible, what no one else is doing – and the things they figured out, they hand off to industry,” he added.
Jared Isaacman says it’s a problem that NASA is building rockets when the commercial space industry is doing the same.
“NASA needs to constantly be recalibrating to do the near impossible, what no one else is doing – and the things they figured out, they hand off to industry.” pic.twitter.com/abdGGqpJdr
— Toby Li (@tobyliiiiiiiiii) November 6, 2025
Isaacman also seems to be against the Trump administration’s proposed NASA budget cuts for FY2026 from $24.8 billion to $18.8 billion. The proposed budget will affect every science department in NASA and is likely to cancel missions like the Mars Sample Return and shutdown observatories like the Chandra X-ray observatory, the world’s most powerful X-ray telescope.
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Recently, a letter from Isaacman sent to former NASA administrator Bill Nelson surfaced online. In the letter, he requested Nelson to restore Chandra’s full funding of $70 million a year because its data, when complemented with the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes, is too valuable to lose. Isaacman has also offered to repair the failing components of the 35-year-old Hubble telescope out of his own pocket.
Science! https://t.co/4gFG36gcBp pic.twitter.com/FqfSJhraI2
— John Kraus (@johnkrausphotos) November 7, 2025
The upheaval that Isaacman has promised seems necessary for the American space industry especially during its increasingly intense competition with China. He was reportedly just days away from assuming the NASA position if it wasn’t for Trump. Besides, the current US government shutdown, which is in its 40th day, has also delayed his appointment. According to Ars Technica’s Eric Berger, Isaacman will have to restart the nomination process if he’s not confirmed before the end of this calendar year and his appointment could extend into Spring 2026.
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