Billionaire Isaacman set to head Nasa, to focus on moon and Mars mission

Business Standard

01-05-2025

Jared Isaacman, the 42-year-old entrepreneur, is set to become the head of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa). Isaacman, the first non-professional astronaut to walk in space, has received approval from a crucial Senate Committee of the US.
According to a BBC report, Isaacman is yet to receive a clear vote of the full chamber to lead Nasa, the space agency which has set its eyes on returning to the Moon.
The Senate Committee voted 19 to nine before his nomination was sent to the full chamber. It is worth noting that most of the votes against him came from the Democrats.
Even though Isaacman is anticipated to win the vote in the full chamber, he is now encountering skepticism, especially for his ties with billionaire Elon Musk. Isaacman was questioned about his plans to send astronauts to Mars, budget cuts, and possible conflicts of interest at his hearing. While he expressed optimism to pursue Nasa's Artemis mission to the moon along with potential missions to Mars, US lawmakers were concerned that he would give up the Artemis mission to focus on expanding the Mars mission and sending astronauts to Mars.
Isaacman's plans for Nasa
Even before taking charge, the 42-year-old billionaire has expressed his desire to expand the human space flight programme. He said, 'We will prioritise sending American astronauts to Mars, and along the way we will inevitably have the capabilities to return to the Moon.'
He said the agency does not have to make a binary decision of moon vs Mars, or Moon has to come first vs Mars.
Isaacman, along with Musk and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is among a few new billionaires who are trying to challenge the old order in space. With their focus being majorly on innovation, these new billionaires are aiming to reduce the cost of space travel.
Isaacman's appointment to head Nasa could also help the agency, which has often been slammed for its space programmes, which have often been called 'wasteful' and 'over the budget' by several private sector operators.
Commenting on the same, Isaacman noted that major contractors are 'incentivised to be economically inefficient', according to the report.
Isaacman's arrest
During the April 9 confirmation hearing, the Senate discovered that back in 2010, Jared Isaacman was arrested at the Canadian border and returned to Nevada after he was accused of passing bad checks to casinos.
Clarifying about the charges against him, he said that the dispute with the casino occurred after a travel reimbursement, which was promised by the resort but was not delivered. He further added that the charges were dismissed and the matter was closed in 24 hours.