The US Must Beat China To Moon, Trump Pick For NASA Chief Jared Isaacman Tells Senate If We Make A Mistake, We May Never Catch Up
The US Must Beat China To Moon, Trump Pick For NASA Chief Jared Isaacman Tells Senate If We Make A Mistake, We May Never Catch Up
Billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman just finished his second at-bat in his bid for NASA chief.
Isaacman spoke Wednesday (Dec. 3) before the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation in Washington, D.C., which was holding its second hearing to consider his nomination asNASAadministrator.
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Fortune changed in Isaacman’s favor whenTrump renominated him on Nov. 4in the wake of media reports saying there was apower struggleoccurring over NASA’s management. (The agency is currently led, in an acting capacity, by former reality TV star and Secretary of TransportationSean Duffy.)
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Isaacman, who founded the payment-processing company Shift4, struck a cautious tone about the twists and turns in his livestreamed testimony during Wednesday’s hearing. “I wouldn’t even begin to want to speculate why the president nominated me, withdrew it and renominated me, other than to say I was grateful for the opportunity in the first place,” he told the committee.
Isaacman added that he has made donations to both the Republican and Democratic parties and said his only connection with SpaceX founder and CEOElon Musk(who also held a temporary, prominent role related tocost-cutting in Trump’s administration) has been the two private astronaut missions, which launched inSeptember 2021andSeptember 2024.
Isaacman declined to divulge exactly how much he paid to fly those missions — he apparently is bound by a non-disclosure agreement with SpaceX — but said that he is complying with all ethical requirements related to his nomination.
‘This is not the time for delay, but for action’
In his opening statement, Isaacman told committee members that his remarks come “with a message of urgency” because, in his mind, NASA needs a permanent administrator ahead of the launch of theArtemis 2astronaut mission around themoonwhich is currently set for February 2026.
TheArtemis programaims to return astronauts to the moon’s surface in 2028 and to set up a long-term sustainable presence on and around Earth’s nearest neighbor not long thereafter. NASA is assembling a coalition of industry and international partners to help make this happen. Artemis has become one of the vehicles by which the United States has sought to compete with China, which is co-leading its own space alliance with Russia and seeks to land astronauts on the moon by 2030.
Congressional hearings in recent months have stressed that the U.S. is in anew “space race”with China, but the two political parties have generally disagreed about how to approach that issue. For example, Democrats have criticized Trump’s proposed deepcuts to NASA’s science budgetwhich they say would hinder the development of technological advances needed to keep the U.S.
in front. But many Republicans argue that streamlining NASA’s approach is necessary to focus dollars on expensive crewed moon andMarsmissions.
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Isaacman’s opening statement echoed the need to win the new space race. “We are in a great competition with a rival that has the will and means to challenge American exceptionalism across multiple domains, including in the high ground of space,” he said of China. “This is not the time for delay, but for action, because if we fall behind, if we make a mistake, we may never catch up, and the consequences could shift the balance of power here onEarth.”
The billionaire lauded the Trump administration’s spending on human spaceflight in the administration’s “One, Big Beautiful Bill” that passed July 4. As far as science goes, Isaacman’s opening statement said his plan is to “make the most efficient use of every dollar allocated” for future programs on the scale of theHubble Space Telescopeor theJames Webb Space Telescope.
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(During the hearing, Isaacman was asked about the proposed 47% cut to NASA’s science budget for 2026. “If I’m confirmed, I’d love to get my arms around where we are presently at,” the billionaire said.)
In his opening statement, Isaacman also pushed for a deeper relationship with industry, so as to “not rely exclusively on the taxpayer.” While arguing that he is “not here for personal gain, to favor or enrich contractors,” he cited increased spending on privately developednuclear propulsion and poweras well as reusable launch vehicles, as key to NASA’s moon-to-Mars approach.
And Isaacman promised that NASA “will never accept a gap” in research after theInternational Space Station‘s retirement in 2030 and the operation of new, privately owned U.S. space stations. If such a gap does open up, China may rush to fill it with itsTiangong space stationcritics have said.
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From Athena to Artemis
Much has happened in the nearly eight months since Isaacman’s first nomination hearing. Here are some of the other topics that were addressed on Wednesday.
Goddard lab closures:Exclusives fromSpace.comcited pending lab closures at NASA’sGoddard Space Flight Centerin Maryland, and Congress is nowscrutinizing the processby which this was said to have happenedduring the government shutdown. Isaacman told committee members that he is reading the same news reports as others and added, “Goddard is very important to spearheading the scientific efforts of NASA.” But, as with the proposed science funding cuts, Isaacman emphasized that he would need time to understand what is going on before making any decisions.
He added that he would allocate the budget as directed by Congress. (Budgets proposed by presidents aren’t enacted until Congress passes them.)
Artemis 3 landing system:Duffypledged in Octoberto reopen competition for theArtemis 3moon-landing contract, whichSpaceX won back in 2021. When asked about this idea on Wednesday, Isaacman carefully spoke at the program level, pointing out that Jeff Bezos’Blue Originhas since won anArtemis astronaut-landing contractas well. “I think that competition is fantastic.
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I think the best thing for SpaceX is a Blue Origin right on their heels, and vice versa,” he said. “I have no particular interest in one provider versus another. My interest is in making sure the objective is achieved.”
Project Athena:A month ago, Politicoreceiveda leaked, 62-page plan called “Project Athena” that was penned by Isaacman. It outlines an approach that would move some of NASA’s missions to the private sector while operating the agency like a business.
But, as the nonprofit Planetary Societypointed outAthena was written long before some of the recent changes at NASA cited above, and Isaacman has always framed it as a proposal. In his testimony on Wednesday, Isaacman reiterated that the document is an interim collection of “ideas, thoughts on the direction of the agency, research requests” that he plans to amend as he receives data.
Supersonic flights:Isaacman’s testimony also included individual discussion on a few NASA programs, including NASA’s efforts to develop a “quiet” supersonic jet that could help bring ultrafast passenger flight back to the U.S. That program saw the X-59 make ahistoric first test flightin October. Isaacman was asked how NASA can help industry to continue innovating for programs like this, without undue regulation.
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The agency, Isaacman said, is “funded by taxpayers to explore the near impossible in air and space” and would hand off technology to industry “where competition can drive innovation and bring down costs.” Isaacman added that he is watching Boom Supersonic, a private companyalso innovating in supersonic flightbut kept his recommendations general about the industry-versus-government flex point. “I actually don’t think NASA is at its best when it’s doing what industry is doing, because at that point, talent would naturally probably gravitate to industry where they get the advantage of, who knows, appreciating stock options and such.”
Isaacman’s hearing took place alongside that of Steven Haines, who is being considered for nomination as the assistant secretary of commerce for industry and analysis. Committee chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has said he is hoping to open the vote for Isaacman’s confirmation on Monday (Dec. 8), putting Isaacman on track to potentially take the reins permanently for NASA before Congress adjourns for the holidays.
Isaacman’s chances appear to be quite good. As noted above, he seemed set to be confirmed before Trump withdrew his nomination back in May. And that support seems to have persisted or even strengthened over the past six months. For example, as Isaacman noted in his written testimony for Wednesday’s hearing, Duffy has endorsed him, and 36 NASA astronauts have signed a letter backing his nomination.
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Disclaimer: This news article has been republished exactly as it appeared on its original source, without any modification.
We do not take any responsibility for its content, which remains solely the responsibility of the original publisher.
Author: uaetodaynews
Published on: 2025-12-04 08:46:00
Source: uaetodaynews.com
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