At long last, NASA has a head again.
The agency had a year of trials and tribulation., Without a permanent administrator at its head, lack of direction ran alongside budgetary and workforce woes. Fixing that mess will be a tough job. But someone’s gotta do it.
That someone will be Jared Isaacman—now that the Senate has confirmed the billionaire private astronaut and entrepreneur—for whom the second time was the charm. The Senate voted 67–30 in favor of the appointment.
- Throughout Isaacman’s two confirmation processes, members of Congress subjected Isaacman to questions about his closeness to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk—that was because Isaacman purchased (and commanded) two private spaceflights through Musk’s company. Isaacman wrote off the relationship as purely business.
- During Round 2, Isaacman also had to answer a litany of questions about Project Athena, his leaked plans for the agency drafted during his first confirmation process. Isaacman, however, said the document is a work in progress and subject to change.
Isaacman can now get started in his role as NASA administrator right away—but he’s not in for a cakewalk.
A big job: NASA’s tumult isn’t over. The agency still doesn’t have a budget for FY2026. The workforce has shrunk over the past year, due to staff reductions, early retirements, and preemptive cuts to science programs.
Isaacman has made his priorities for the agency pretty clear during his hearings.
- He’s pro-competition—not only between providers for NASA programs, but also between world powers, “as long as we don’t lose.”
- He wants the agency to prioritize Moon and Mars missions—potentially even in parallel, as he said at his first confirmation hearing in April.
- He wants to bolster NASA programs like Artemis and CLPS, to get to the Moon.
What’s next: Isaacman’s biggest challenge, perhaps, is a people problem.
During his confirmation process, Isaacman won support from all facets of the space community, from former astronauts to industry associations. Now that he’s gotten the seal of approval from the Senate, it’ll be up to him to win the support of a gutted NASA workforce that’s low on morale.
