Article cover: Jared Isaacman, 15th NASA Administrator 18 Dec. 2025 (NASA, 2026).
On 18 December 2025, NASA announced that Jared Isaacman was sworn as the 15th Administrator of the organisation. The ceremony was held at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, USA.
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Updates
20 Jan 2026: Recognise, Reward, Inspire.Background
15th NASA Administrator.An epic journey to Administrator.
Jared, Aviation and Space.
UPDATE
20 January 2026: Recognise, Reward, Inspire
– 20 January 2026
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman issued a workforce directive that reflects the values of flight, history and public engagement built into the fabric of the agency since its creation. Based on “Recognise, Reward and Inspire”, the message calls managers to continue their work with rigour and keep nurturing people as they deal with hardware and budgets. The directive notes that aviation is not just a technical area, but a cultural base built by the workforce.
END of UPDATE
BACKGROUND
15th NASA Administrator – Sworn on 18 December 2025
As Isaacman accepted his new position, he commented:
“I am deeply honoured to be sworn in as NASA administrator, NASA’s mission is as imperative and urgent as ever, to push the boundaries of human exploration, ignite the orbital economy, drive scientific discovery, and innovate for the benefit of all of humanity. I look forward to serving under President Trump’s leadership and restoring a mission-first culture at NASA, focused on achieving ambitious goals, to return American astronauts to the Moon, establish an enduring presence on the lunar surface, and laying the groundwork to deliver on President Trump’s vision of planting the Stars and Stripes on Mars”.
District Judge Timothy Kelly, left, swears in Jared Isaacman, right, as the 15th administrator of NASA, as Isaacman’s parents, Donald and Sandra Marie, join on 18 Dec. 2025, at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington. (NASA/Bill Ingalls, 2025).
Isaacman was first nominated by President Trump in January 2024, then his nomination was pulled out at the end of May due to Isaacman’s donations to Democratic candidates and his close relationship with Elon Musk, funder and CEO of SpaceX. Trump’s social media post once described Isaacman as "a blue-blooded Democrat, who had never contributed to a Republican before".
In an unusual turn, Trump nominated Isaacman again in November, Isaacman posted on “X” "Thank you, Mr. President, for this opportunity. It will be an honour to serve my country under your leadership".
After a year of uncertainty and temporary leadership that culminated with Sean Duffy as interim administrator, the U.S. Senate passed Isaacman’s second nomination from 04 November with a 67-30 vote, marking a pivotal shift in how the world’s most famous space agency operates. Isaacman is not a traditional bureaucrat; he is a pilot, a philanthropist, and a pioneer who has already personally commanded historic missions into Earth’s orbit.
On his first nomination to the U.S. Senate on the 09 April 2025 session, Isaacman introduced himself and explained his views. The following segment of the Senate session shows his 6-minute presentation at the 54minute mark (the full session lasts 3 hours).
Jared’s epic journey to Administrator
Jared Isaacman is an entrepreneur that became a billionaire from his ventures that started when he founded his first payment-processing company in Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA in 1999, when he was 16 years old. The company started as “United Bank Card” which aimed at helping small businesses with their payments.
Bloomberg Original interviewed Jared Isaacman as one of the American school dropouts that became millionaires (4m21s).
United Bank Card’s growth
Jared Isaacman started running his first company “United Bank Card” from the basement of his family house, employing his mother Sandy Isaacman as the bookkeeper and his father Don Isaacman for public relations as Jared was too young to get a driver’s licence or a credit card. In the first 3 years, Jared’s company grew 2,000 percent and kept expanding.
In 2004 the company removed the up-front cost of payment devices and in 2008 they created HarbourTouch that focused on efficient payments for restaurants. By 2017, they had developed three further software solutions for big companies (POSitouch, RestaurantManager and Future POS) and created Shift4 to handle even larger companies, adding security, payment connectivity and integration with existing software.
In 2021, they added VenueNext for large venues and Shift4Shop for E-Commerce. In 2022, they bought Finaro, a Pan-European e-commerce provider; GivingBlock that specialises in Crypto-currency donations; and Skytab a point of sale solution. In 2024 they grew again, acquiring Givex, that caters for Canada, CIP for UK and Ireland, Vectron for Germany and GlobalBlue for luxury retail and tax-free shopping solutions worldwide.
Shift4 worldwide payment processing solutions (Shif4, 2026).
Jared, Aviation and Space
Jared Isaacman became a pilot quite young and flew in acrobatic shows for charity.
Isaacsman’s interest in space led him to fund the Polaris Space Programme, commanding private orbital missions Inspiration 4 and Polaris Dawn, during which he achieved the first-ever civilian spacewalk.
Jared achievements in aerospace include an extensive experience as an aircraft pilot and his participation in self-funded space missions to Earth’s orbit.
Certifications
- Space certifications
- 2024: Polaris Dawn mission: First commercial spacewalk; highest crewed orbit in 50+ years (870 miles); farthest humans have travelled from Earth since Apollo 17
- 2021: Inspiration4 mission: First all-civilian orbital spaceflight.
- 2009: Circumnavigated the globe in a light jet (Cessna Citation CJ2) in 61 hours, 51 minutes, 15 seconds.
- Military aircraft pilot certifications
- Aero L-39 Albatros
- Aero L-159 ALCA
- Douglas A-4 Skyhawk
- Canadair T-33 Shooting Star
- Aeromachi MB-339
- Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29UB
- Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet
- Northrop F-5 Tiger and T-38 Talon
- Civilian jet pilot type ratings
- CE-500, 510, 525, 650, RA390
Vision, efficiency and national pride
Central to Isaacman’s philosophy is the restoration of what he describes as a "mission-first" culture. This vision was articulated in a detailed 62-page document titled "Project Athena", published in “Politico Report” in early November, which outlines his desire for NASA to operate in a leaner, more efficient manner. In the current competition for space exploration Isaacman is committed to ensuring that American returns to the Moon before China. His ambitious goals aim at establishing lunar presence to learn and improve exploration technologies that will eventually allow to achieve the same on the Martian surface.
NASA Town Hall presentation – 19 December 2025.
Jared Isaacman was introduced to NASA staff and media at his first “Town Hall” address to the agency on 19 December 2025. Isaacman presented his three key priorities of his administration:
- The Artemis 2 mission, that will be prioritised to return American astronauts to the Moon, scheduled for 2026.
- The Orbital Economythat focuses on a transition from a tax-payer-funded agency to a self-sustaining commercial model that together with academia, will allow maximising the life of the International Space Station (ISS) and develop more stations.
- Space exploration, with a promotion of research to prepare humanity for a human mission to Mars.
Isaacman’s leadership will advocate for a more agile organisational structure that prioritises missions and “pushes responsibilities down” to young talent. There will be better control of spending to maximise value maintaining high standards of safety, and a management of risk to speed-up discovery. He aims at reminding contractors that they work for NASA and not the other way around and that they will be held accountable with strict budgets and schedules. Building infrastructure will be revised to modernise and repurpose aging structures.
He will promote returning to work physically together and increase the search for new talent. As an aviator, he will expand the “X-plane” portfolio and designs in propulsion technology.
Watch NASA’s Town Hall address for more detail (50min).
Political and fiscal domains.
Some members of the American Congress voiced their concern regarding Isaacman’s ties to SpaceX and Elon Musk. In an interview, Isaacman denied any close tie with Elon Musk other than their interaction during the Inspiration 4 and Polaris Dawn missions. The missions involved his donation of US$100 million to St Jude Children’s Research Hospital and raising funds with the mission to a value of US$250 million in 2021.
Isaacman was sued four times for check fraud and suspected of a similar issue in Canada, but the cases were resolved and charges dropped without further repercussion. Despite a reduction of NASA’s funding by 25% and research funding by 50% in 2026 budget, Isaacman expressed his commitment to continue his plans to drive innovation and space exploration.
Elon Musk and Jared Isaacman masked during preparations for SpaceX Polaris mission. Jared’s first commercial spacewalk (SpaceX, 2024).
Find out more about the Polaris Dawn mission (10-15 September 2024) in the ren@rt & science article available at https://renartscience.blogspot.com/2025/04/spacex-polaris-dawn-1-10-to-15-sep-2024 (opens in a new tab/window).
SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission: First commercial EVA, 10-15 September 2024 (Ren@art, SpaceX, 2024).
REFERENCES
» Dinner J (2025) US Senate confirms Jared Isaacman as new NASA administrator. Space.com, 17 December 2025 [Online]. Available at Space.com. 05 January 2026.
» Holt C (2026) NASA chief Jared Isaacman drops bold workforce order focused on aviation and legacy. MSN-News [Online]. Available at MSN.com. Accessed: 25 January 2026.
» NASA (2025) Jared Isaacman, NASA Administrator. NASA [Online]. Available at NASA.gov. Accessed: 10 January 2026.
» Shift4 (2026) Jared Isaacman, NASA Administrator. NASA [Online]. Available at NASA.gov. Accessed: 10 January 2026.
» Taveau J (2025) NASA Welcomes 15th Administrator Jared Isaacman. NASA [Online]. Available at NASA.gov. Accessed: 05 January 2026.
» Wall M (2025) Trump renominates billionaire Jared Isaacman for NASA chief in major reversal. Space.com, 05 November 2025 [Online]. Available at Space.com. 10 January 2026.
» Wikipedia (2026) Jared Isaacman [Online]. Available at Wikipedia.com. Accessed: 10 January 2026.
== END of Jared Isaacman, NASA Administrator – 18 Dec 2025 ==
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