Ex-astronaut, one-time Trump nominee Jared Isaacman gives $15M to rocket center
July 11 (UPI) -- Ex-NASA administrator nominee Jared Isaacman has donated $15 million to support the U.S. Space & Rocket Center's under-construction Inspiration4Skills Training Complex in Huntsville, Al.
The Space & Rocket Center's Inspiration4 Skills Training Complex is named after the all-civilian space mission that Isaacman, 42, led over three days as part of a SpaceX endeavor in September 2021, according to Space.com.
The Inspiration4 mission was the first space mission that used an all-civilian crew to orbit the Earth, and its namesake training complex is scheduled to open in early 2026.
"The Inspiration4 Skills Training Complex and the Polaris Dawn mission activities will transform Space Camp," Space Camp Vice President Robin Soprano told Space.com in an emailed statement.
"Through this extraordinary investment, we are building cutting-edge experiences to take our programs and our students into the future."
Isaacman announced the donation on Friday, which will help fund the construction of the training facility in Huntsville and a new dormitory for Space Camp students.
It also will help to pay for Space Camp mission operations and activities for students who are participating in Space Camp Robotics and the U.S. Cyber Camp.
Such activities include simulated moon and Mars missions and are named after the Polaris Dawn mission, which was Isaacman's second spaceflight with SpaceX and occurred in September 2024.
Isaacman also donated $10 million to the Space & Rocket Center in 2022.
The center is affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution and is the visitor center for the Marshall Space Flight Center.
The campus also is home to several educational programs, including the Space Camp Institute, Space Camp Robotics, U.S Cyber Camp, Aviation Challenge and the INTUITIVE Planetarium.
Isaacman attended the Aviation Challenge program at the center when he was 12, which inspired him to earn a pilot's license.
He briefly was President Donald Trump's nominee to lead NASA earlier this year and in September 2024 led the five-day Polaris Dawn mission for SpaceX.
That mission included the first spacewalk performed by a civilian.
Isaacman underwent months of vetting and was only days away from a Senate confirmation vote when Trump withdrew his nomination as NASA administrator due to "prior associations."
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