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Jared Isaacman

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Jared Isaacman
Isaacman in 2022
Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Nominee
Assuming office
TBD
PresidentDonald Trump (elect)
SucceedingBill Nelson
Personal details
Born (1983-02-11) February 11, 1983 (age 41)
Union, New Jersey, U.S.
SpouseMonica Isaacman[1]
Children2
Space career
Commercial astronaut
Time in space
7 days, 21 hours, 17 minutes
Total EVAs
1
Total EVA time
7 minutes, 56 seconds[2]
Missions

Jared Taylor Isaacman (born February 11, 1983) is an American entrepreneur, pilot, philanthropist, and commercial astronaut. He was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump in December 2024 to serve as the next administrator of NASA.[3] He is the founder of Draken International, which provides adversary training to the US, British, and other NATO air forces, and the founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, a payment processor.[4] Through his leadership in private space exploration, Isaacman has been credited with advancing competition in the space industry and reducing reliance on government programs.[5][6] As of September 2024, his estimated net worth is US$1.9 billion.[7][8]

Isaacman was the commander of Inspiration4, a private spaceflight using SpaceX's Crew Dragon Resilience, launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on September 16, 2021. The crew returned to Earth on September 18, 2021, after orbiting at 585 km (364 mi) in altitude. The mission was part of a fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, to which Isaacman pledged to donate $100 million.[9] In total to date, Isaacman has donated over $125 million to St. Jude.

Isaacman commanded the Polaris Dawn mission, the first private spaceflight in a series of missions named the Polaris Program. During this mission, on September 12, 2024, Isaacman became the first private citizen to perform a spacewalk.[10]

Early life

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Isaacman was born on February 11, 1983, at Overlook Hospital in Summit, New Jersey, to Donald and Sandra Marie Isaacman.[11][12] He is the youngest of four children. His siblings include brothers Marc, Michael, and sister Tiffany. Isaacman and his family lived in Union Township, Union County, New Jersey, before moving to Westfield, New Jersey,[13] sometime around April 1987.

He attended Wilson Elementary School in Westfield, from kindergarten through sixth grade.[14]

The family moved to the Liberty Corner section of Bernards Township, New Jersey, when Isaacman was 12, where he attended William Annin Middle School. After setting up a company that offered computer services with a friend while attending Ridge High School, he was offered a full-time job as a technician and dropped out of school at the start of his junior year in September 1999, earning a Graduation Equivalency Degree.[15]

He attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Worldwide Campus,[16] where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in Professional Aeronautics.[17]

Career

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Business

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In 1999, Isaacman founded a retail payment processing company named United Bank Card, which was later renamed Harbortouch, a point-of-sale payment company based in Pennsylvania. He was the founding CEO, and retained that role in 2015 with the company having "been profitable for over a decade [while processing] US$11 billion a year from 60,000 merchants, generating US$300 million in revenues."[18] By 2020, the company had been renamed Shift4 Payments, Isaacman remained CEO, and the company was processing US$200 billion in payments annually.[4]

In 2012, he co-founded Draken International, a Florida-based company that trains pilots for the United States Armed Forces. The company operates one of the world's largest fleets of privately owned fighter jets.[18][19]

Pilot

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Isaacman's MiG-29UB performing at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in 2023

He is flight-qualified in multiple military jet aircraft.[4] Isaacman continues to perform at airshows with his Black Diamond Jet Team that he co-founded in 2010.[19][20]

In 2008, he made a first attempt to set a new world record for circumnavigating the globe in a light jet, falling short by traveling around the world in 83 hours, just beyond the existing record of 82 hours. The record attempt was a fundraising event for Make-A-Wish Foundation.[21]

In April 2009, on his second attempt, he set a world record for circumnavigating the globe in a light jet, making the flight in 61:51:15, about 20 hours faster than the previous record of 82 hours. The world record attempt was made as a fundraising event for Make-A-Wish Foundation of New Jersey.[18][22] He flew a Cessna Citation CJ2 with two other crew members, skipping stops in India and Japan, where he encountered hours-long ground delays in his previous attempt in 2008.[21]

Isaacman received the call sign "Rook" during flight training.[23] "Rook" himself has stated many times that his nickname was given to him when he started flying fighters.

Spaceflight

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Inspiration4

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Inspiration4 launch carrying Jared Isaacman

In February 2021, Isaacman announced that he would serve as commander of Inspiration4, the first private human spaceflight in which none of the people aboard were from a government agency.[24] The mission was operated by SpaceX, on board an autonomous Crew Dragon spacecraft launched by a Falcon 9 launch vehicle.[24][25]


In August 2021, the crew of Inspiration4, including Isaacman, was featured on the cover of a Time magazine double issue.[26]

On September 15, 2021 (UTC), Inspiration4 launched and achieved orbit. The mission splashed down 3 days later.[27][28]

During the Inspiration4 mission, Isaacman made the first-known sports bet from space, placing two bets on NFL football with the BetMGM Sportsbook, while over Las Vegas.[29]

Polaris Dawn

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In September 2024, Isaacman commanded the Polaris Dawn mission, which is part of a crewed spaceflight program called the Polaris program.[26] The crew consisted of Isaacman, Kidd (Scott) Poteet, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon. who rose to a record-breaking apogee of 1,400 km (870 mi) and later lower to a 700 km (430 mi) apogee. The crew completed a multi-hour EVA on September 12, 2024, with all crew exposed to the vacuum of space, although Isaacman and Sarah Gillis individually conducted what is termed Stand-up Extravehicular Activities or SEVAs.[30] Over the five-day flight, the crew performed about 40 different science experiments and provided more insight into life in space.[31] The crew also completed the first crewed demonstration of Starlink laser communication in space.[29]

Personal life

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He is Jewish, although he has stated that he is not religious.[32]

He is married and has two daughters.[31] Isaacman has been a resident of Washington Township, Warren County, New Jersey.[21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Allentown to orbit: Billionaire buys SpaceX flight, and there is a way to join him". February 2, 2021.
  2. ^ McDowell, Jonathan [@planet4589] (September 12, 2024). "The hatch open/close time was about 26m 40s. Isaacman was outside hatch for 7 min 56m; Gillis for about 7m15s" (Tweet). Retrieved September 12, 2024 – via Twitter.
  3. ^ "Trump Picks Jared Isaacman as NASA Administrator". Bloomberg.com. December 4, 2024. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Tognini, Giacomo (October 7, 2020). "Meet The New Billionaire Who Dropped Out of High School and Flies Fighter Jets for Fun". Forbes. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  5. ^ Mike Wall (December 4, 2024). "Trump picks billionaire private SpaceX astronaut Jared Isaacman to lead NASA". Space.com. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
  6. ^ Harwood, William. "Trump taps billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman as next NASA administrator". CBS News.
  7. ^ "Forbes profile: Jared Isaacman". Forbes. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
  8. ^ "Jared Isaacman, the billionaire behind historic spacewalk". BBC news.
  9. ^ Sheetz, Michael (September 15, 2021). "SpaceX is set to launch four nonprofessional astronauts to orbit: Here's what you should know". CNBC. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  10. ^ "First Private Spacewalk in SpaceX Capsule Achieves New Milestone". The New York Times. September 12, 2024. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
  11. ^ "Jared Isaacman". Business Jet Traveler. November 15, 2011. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
  12. ^ "Private Astronauts Biography:Jared Isaacman". spacefacts.de. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
  13. ^ "Union County Clerk's Office Public Land Records". clerk.ucnj.org. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  14. ^ Samuels, Remy. "Billionaire Space Explorer, Westfield Alum Visits Wilson School; Jared Isaacman, the Westfield native who orbited Earth on the 'Resilience' mission last fall, visited Wilson Elementary on Wednesday.", Westfield, NJ Patch, March 18, 2022. Accessed September 18, 2024. "Besides attending Westfield Public Schools from kindergarten through sixth grade many years ago, Isaacman was the commander of an all-civilian crew of the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, dubbed Resilience, that orbited Earth last September."
  15. ^ "Billionaire journeys from Ridge High School to space", Bernardsville News, February 10, 2021. Accessed September 18, 2024. "When Jared Isaacman dropped out of Ridge High School more than 20 years ago to pursue a successful career in business, it seemed like the sky was the limit.... In the same interview, he also mentioned his former hometown of Bernards Township."
  16. ^ Harper, Mark (March 31, 2021). "2 ERAU grads will crew SpaceX Inspiration 4 rocket launch later this year". The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
  17. ^ "Who is Jared Isaacman, NJ-born billionaire who just did first-ever private spacewalk?". NBC News. September 13, 2024. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
  18. ^ a b c Segran, Elizabeth (April 13, 2015). "Meet The Fighter-Jet-Flying 32-Year-Old On Top Of The Payments Industry". Fast Company. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  19. ^ a b Whitford, David (October 25, 2017). "This Founder Owns the World's Largest Private Fleet of Fighter Jets – and That's Just One of His Companies". Inc.com. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  20. ^ Thomas Burghardt (February 1, 2021). "SpaceX announces Inspiration4, all-civilian space mission in support of St Jude's Hospital". NasaSpaceFlight.com.
  21. ^ a b c Sarah Schillaci (April 10, 2009). "Warren County man attempts flight around globe in record time". New Jersey Local News. Star Ledger.
  22. ^ "Warren County pilot back at Morristown Airport after breaking world flight record". New Jersey Local News. April 15, 2009. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  23. ^ Thompson, Amy (September 15, 2021). "Inspiration4's call signs: The crew of SpaceX's all-civilian mission have special nicknames". Space.com. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  24. ^ a b Chang, Kenneth (February 1, 2021). "To Get on This SpaceX Flight, You Don't Have to Be Rich, Just Lucky". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 1, 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  25. ^ Berger, Eric (February 1, 2021). "SpaceX announces first 'free flyer' human spaceflight". Ars Technica. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  26. ^ a b Kluger, Jeffrey (August 23, 2021). "Inside Inspiration 4". Time. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  27. ^ updated, Amy Thompson last (September 16, 2021). "SpaceX launches four civilians into orbit on historic Inspiration4 flight". Space.com. Archived from the original on September 11, 2024. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
  28. ^ Sheetz, Michael (September 18, 2021). "SpaceX's private Inspiration4 mission splashes down safely in Atlantic Ocean". CNBC. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
  29. ^ a b "Inspiration4 leader places first-ever sports bet from space". Fox Business. September 17, 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  30. ^ "First Private Spacewalk in SpaceX Capsule Achieves New Milestone". The New York Times. September 12, 2024. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
  31. ^ a b Rabie, Passant (February 5, 2021). "Who is Jared Issacman? 29 facts about the billionaire going to orbit with SpaceX". Inverse. Bustle Digital Group. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  32. ^ Wattles, Jackie (September 15, 2021). "How to practice religion could be a big question for some space tourists | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
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