US President Donald Trump has renominated billionaire Jared Isaacman for the position of NASA administrator. He announced this on the social network Truth Social.
„Jared’s passion for space, his experience as an astronaut, and his drive to push the boundaries of exploration, unlock the secrets of the Universe, and advance a new space economy make him the perfect candidate to lead NASA into a bold new era,“ Trump wrote.
Jared Isaacman is a businessman closely associated with the space industry and Elon Musk. In 2021 and 2024, he made two private space flights with SpaceX, during one of which he performed a spacewalk. After Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election, Elon Musk lobbied for him to become the next NASA administrator.
By May 2025, Isaacman’s candidacy had passed all the necessary formal approvals, and all that remained was the final vote in the Senate. However, then there was a high-profile rift between Donald Trump and Elon Musk. After a heated exchange on social media, Trump withdrew Isaacman’s nomination, stating that he was ‘a blue-blooded Democrat who has never contributed to the Republican Party before.’ In July, Transport Minister Sean Duffy was appointed acting head of NASA.
In October, rumours emerged that the White House was considering reappointing Isaacman. He met with Trump several times to discuss the space programme. Industry sources also reported some dissatisfaction with Duffy’s performance, who showed a clear interest in remaining acting administrator for the long term and even considered the possibility of transferring NASA to the US Department of Transport.
The decision to renominate Isaacman has been generally well received by representatives of the aerospace industry and the space community. He will now have to go through all the necessary legal approvals again, after which the Senate will have to approve his candidacy. This could take several months.
