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 as NASA administrator.

Isaacman is a private astronaut who has funded and commanded two SpaceX missions to Earth orbit, and was widely considered to be a shoo-in for administrator after his first hearing before the committee on April 9. But on May 31, President Donald Trump abruptly revoked the nomination, citing concerns with Isaacman's past donations to Democratic political candidates and his ties with SpaceX. (At the time, Isaacman said some people had "axes to grind" and that he was "a good, visible target.")

Fortune changed in Isaacman's favor when Trump renominated him on Nov. 4, in the wake of media reports saying there was a power struggle occurring over NASA's management. (The agency is currently led, in an acting capacity, by former reality TV star and Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy.)

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 CEO Elon Musk (who also held a temporary, prominent role related to cost-cutting in Trump's administration) has been the two private astronaut missions, which launched in September 2021 and September 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 the Artemis 2 astronaut mission around the moon, which is currently set for February 2026.

The Artemis program aims 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 a new "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 deep cuts to NASA's science budget, which 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 and Mars missions.

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 on Earth."

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 the Hubble Space Telescope or the James Webb Space Telescope. (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 developed nuclear propulsion and power, as 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 the International 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 its Tiangong space station, critics have said.

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 from Space.com cited pending lab closures at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, and Congress is now scrutinizing the process by which this was said to have happened during 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: Duffy pledged in October to reopen competition for the Artemis 3 moon-landing contract, which SpaceX won back in 2021. When asked about this idea on Wednesday, Isaacman carefully spoke at the program level, pointing out that Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin has since won an Artemis astronaut-landing contract as well. "I think that competition is fantastic. 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, Politico received a 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 more like a business. But, as the nonprofit Planetary Society pointed out, Athena was written long before some of the more 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 more 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 a historic first test flight in October. Isaacman was asked how NASA can help industry to continue innovating for programs like this, without undue regulation. 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 company also innovating in supersonic flight, but kept his recommendations more 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.