ORLANDO, Fla. — Entrepreneur and commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman in remarks Dec. 11 outlined an ambitious vision for U.S. space leadership, emphasizing the critical need to maintain technological superiority in the global space race while highlighting the growing role of private sector innovation.
Speaking at the Spacepower Conference hosted by the Space Force Association, Isaacman — who has been picked by President-elect Donald Trump to lead NASA — did not comment directly on the nomination and spoke broadly about American competitiveness in space, warning against falling behind international rivals, particularly China.
“I know we can’t be second,” Isaacman told an audience of military and defense industry professionals.
Isaacman in September 2021 commanded the Inspiration4 mission, the first all-civilian orbital flight that raised over $240 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. More recently, he led the Polaris Dawn mission in September 2024, which achieved significant milestones including the first private astronaut spacewalk and the highest-altitude flight since the Apollo era.
In his remarks, Isaacman was emphatic about the transformative potential of space entrepreneurship, stating that he believes we are entering “an era of great experimentation” with promising economic horizons.
Advice to defense contractors
Isaacman is the founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, a financial technology firm he launched at 16, and co-founder of Draken International, a defense contractor providing adversary air training for U.S. and NATO forces. Draken won a $280 million contract with the U.S. Air Force in 2018, and Isaacman sold the company in 2019 to The Blackstone Group investment firm.
Reflecting on his defense contracting experience, Isaacman urged companies to take risks in developing solutions ahead of government demand. “If there is a real problem, and you know that if you solve that problem, there’s going to be demand for it, just lean in and do it,” he said. “I hate the idea of waiting around and not touching the keyboard until you get a contract.”
Isaacman also highlighted the role of the U.S. Space Force in protecting emerging space infrastructure. He praised service members, known as guardians, for their work in satellite protection and debris tracking, calling their contributions essential to safe space exploration.
“There will almost assuredly be some space economy up there,” he predicted. “We are going to inevitably have a presence on the moon and then on Mars,” Isaacman stated, “and we’re just going to keep making the high ground higher.”
The future of Isaacman’s own Polaris program is now uncertain, with two planned missions now in limbo. “It’s a little bit of a question mark,” he acknowledged.
However, his broader message was one of optimism and challenge. He hopes the industry will “crack the code on something other than what we’ve been doing for a while,” noting that the space economy has remained largely unchanged for six decades.
Isaacman expressed optimism about the growth of the space economy, citing its potential for advances in manufacturing, biotechnology, mining, and energy.
While SpaceX continues to dominate the business, Isaacman lauded the contributions of other private companies. “Blue Origin is putting a ton of their own money on the line,” he noted, adding that Rocket Lab’s agility as a “small, scrappy startup” has yielded impressive results.
A goal for space companies should be to “crack the code on something other than what we’ve been doing for a while,” he said. “Because essentially, the space economy has been more or less the same for 60 years.”
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