Jared Isaacman addresses Congress during his second confirmation hearing for NASA administrator on Dec. 3, 2025. Screenshot via CSPAN

Jared Isaacman faced a second confirmation hearing for the role of NASA administrator on Wednesday, reiterating his support for the Artemis program and competition among commercial companies for government programs, and emphasizing his independence from Elon Musk. 

President Trump re-nominated Isaacman to lead NASA last month after pulling back his nomination in June amid a feud with Musk. Isaacman is an entrepreneur and the founder of Shift4 and Draken International, and has commanded two private spaceflight missions on SpaceX Dragon capsules.

Isaacman said if he is confirmed to lead NASA, he will bring “urgency and an extreme focus to the mission.”

“We are in a great competition with a rival that has the will and the means to challenge American exceptionalism across multiple domains — including in the high ground of space,” Isaacman said in his opening statement. “This is not the time for delay, but a time 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.” 

He committed to the priorities of the U.S. returning to the Moon before China, establishing an enduring presence on the Moon, and to not accepting a gap in U.S. capabilities in terms of a human presence in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO), or the ability to send American astronauts to the Moon. 

In response to a recent move from acting Administrator Sean Duffy to re-open NASA’s Moon lander contract with SpaceX due to SpaceX delays, Isaacman noted that both companies have existing Human Landing Systems (HLS) contracts. 

“I don’t think it was lost on either one of those organizations that the first company that is capable of delivering a lander to take American astronauts to the lunar surface and back is the one that this nation is going to go with,” he said. “I think that competition is fantastic. The best thing for SpaceX is Blue Origin right on their heels — and vice versa.” 

Isaacman faced questions from Senators about ‘Project Athena’ — a confidential manifesto that Isaacman prepared when he was the nominee earlier this year and was reported by Politico. The document details proposed changes to NASA including outsourcing more missions to the private sector and ending the Space Launch System rocket program.

Isaacman confirmed he is the sole author of Project Athena and the document was intended to be refined with more data. “I do stand behind everything in the document. Even though it was written seven months ago, I think it was all directionally correct,” he said. 

He explained that Planet and BlackSky are examples of commercial companies that may be able to provide Earth Observation and climate science data “at a lower cost, specifically to free up resources for other planetary science missions that commercial companies are not capable of doing.” 

Isaacman was questioned on his ties to SpaceX founder Elon Musk. He reiterated that he has no direct or indirect equity in SpaceX or any other aerospace company and pushed back against characterization that the two are friends. 

“My relationship with Mr. Musk is the fact that I led two missions to space at SpaceX, because it’s the only organization that can send astronauts to and from space since the Shuttle was retired,” Isaacman said. 

Like during his first hearing in April, he did not directly answer the question of whether or not Elon Musk was in the room when Trump offered him the role of NASA administrator the first time, saying it took place in a ballroom where there were “dozens of people moving in and out that I would not say were in the meeting.” 

A large group of former astronauts have backed Isaacman, sending a letter to Congress in support of his confirmation. 

Senator Ted Cruz, who chairs the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, said during the hearing that he hopes Isaacman is confirmed and in the role of administrator by the end of this year.