U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he is re-nominating private astronaut and entrepreneur Jared Isaacman to lead NASA, five months after Isaacman’s initial nomination was withdrawn following a dispute between Trump and SpaceX founder Elon Musk. The decision restores the billionaire e-commerce executive as Trump’s pick to head the U.S. space agency at a time of uncertainty over funding and strategic priorities.
Isaacman, founder and CEO of financial services firm Shift4 Payments, has flown to orbit twice as a customer and collaborator with SpaceX. His original nomination was pulled in May after a falling-out between Trump and Musk over the role of private companies in U.S. space exploration. In July, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was appointed interim NASA chief as the agency faced budget cuts, layoffs, and restructuring plans. Nearly 4,000 NASA employees accepted buyouts earlier this year, according to the union representing agency workers.
The renewed nomination comes two weeks after Duffy publicly challenged SpaceX’s dominance over NASA’s lunar program, proposing to open the Artemis lunar lander contracts to additional competitors. Musk responded on social media by criticizing Duffy’s leadership, writing that “the person responsible for America’s space program can’t have a 2-digit IQ.” Duffy had earlier warned that delays in SpaceX’s Starship rocket could jeopardize NASA’s goal of returning humans to the Moon before 2027 — a target closely tied to U.S.-China competition in lunar exploration.
Announcing the decision on social media, Trump wrote: “This evening, I am pleased to nominate Jared Isaacman, an accomplished business leader, philanthropist, pilot, and astronaut, as Administrator of NASA.” The nomination will require confirmation by the U.S. Senate, where Republicans currently hold a 53–47 majority. Trump had originally nominated Isaacman last December at Musk’s recommendation, citing his spaceflight experience and alignment with the administration’s Mars-focused ambitions.
Isaacman, who has logged thousands of flight hours as a pilot, commanded the first all-private spaceflight to Earth orbit in 2021 — the Inspiration4 mission — and returned to orbit in 2024 with the Polaris Dawn mission, during which he and a SpaceX engineer performed the world’s first private spacewalk. Ahead of his re-nomination, Isaacman reaffirmed his priorities for NASA, including expanding astronaut access to space, maintaining the Artemis lunar program, and advancing technologies such as nuclear electric propulsion. He also expressed support for “maximizing the remaining life” of the International Space Station to help develop a sustainable commercial orbital economy.
“Jared’s passion for space, astronaut experience, and dedication to pushing the boundaries of exploration and advancing the new space economy make him ideally suited to lead NASA into a bold new era,” Trump wrote.
