After months of back and forth, the US space agency NASA is getting a new boss.
December 18, 2025, 03:10December 18, 2025, 03:10
Tech billionaire Elon Musk’s confidante, Jared Isaacman, was confirmed by the Senate with 67 votes to 30 and is now expected to push forward US President Donald Trump’s ambitious lunar program. In the meantime, Transport Minister Sean Duffy co-headed the space agency.
Jared Isaacman becomes the new NASA boss.Image: keystone
Trump had already proposed the billionaire and space tourist Isaacman as NASA boss for the first time last December. In the dispute with Musk, Trump withdrew the nomination at the end of May, as the New York Times reported.
Trump’s last turning point in November
Then the new turning point came at the beginning of November. Trump suggested Isaacman again and praised him to the fullest. “Jared’s passion for space travel and his commitment to pushing the boundaries of exploration, unlocking the mysteries of the universe and advancing the new space economy make him an ideal candidate to lead NASA into a bold new era,” Trump wrote in his post about Isaacman’s nomination. It is not known what exactly motivated Trump to make this new about-face.
Already been in space as a space tourist
Isaacman has caused a stir in recent years with two private space missions: in 2021, he was part of an “amateur crew” in space and orbited the earth for almost three days with three other astronauts. In September 2024, he took part in the “Polaris Dawn” mission with three other space tourists, during which they floated at an altitude of around 1,400 kilometers and also briefly got out of their spaceship.
President Trump and NASA have an ambitious goal: US astronauts should return to the moon with the “Artemis” program. In the first half of 2026, three men and one woman are scheduled to orbit the moon on a ten-day “Artemis 2” mission. In 2027, “Artemis 3” will see astronauts land on the moon again after more than half a century. The last person to walk on the moon was in December 1972, during NASA’s Apollo 17 mission. In the longer term, the “Gateway” station is to be built on the moon. (sda/dpa)