Incoming Head of NASA Puts SpaceX in Its Place: "They Work for Us, Not the Other Way Around"

During his confirmation hearing in front of Congress today, incoming NASA administrator and billionaire fighter jet pilot-turned-SpaceX astronaut Jared Isaacman took a notable turn away from the private space company that enabled both of his trips into orbit.

Members of the Senate Commerce, Science and Technology committee overseeing the proceedings repeatedly questioned Isaacman over his conflict of interest — and his relationship with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

After all, the optics of a wealthy individual with a close relationship with one of NASA's biggest contractors is bound to raise some eyebrows. Just this week, House Democrats kicked off investigations into Musk's conflict of interest, probing whether he was using the space agency to enrich himself.

When asked if Isaacman had been in touch at all with Musk to privately discuss matters at NASA, Isaacman had a resounding answer.

"Not at all, senator," he said.

Isaacman used today's meeting to head off any concerns that his cozy relationship with Musk's firm won't get in the way, a major contention point that's been brewing ever since Trump appointed him.

"I want to absolutely be clear," he added. "My loyalty is to this nation, the space agency, and their world-changing mission."

"They're the contractors, NASA is the customer," he also said. "They work for us, not the other way around."

Isaacman invoked the relationship between private entities and NASA's leadership during its groundbreaking Apollo program over half a century ago to argue that the agency had always valued an outsider perspective.

"I have to imagine that in the 1960s, [NASA administrator James Edwin Webb] would've taken phone calls and welcomed the input from all the various contractors that were contributing to the endeavor."

Isaacman also threw his weight behind NASA's existing Artemis program, which Musk has previously described as a "distraction" and "extremely inefficient."

It's a notable deviation. If it were up to Musk, the agency would ditch its extremely expensive and behind-schedule Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in favor of SpaceX's Starship, and fly straight to Mars instead.

When asked if Isaacman supported the agency's SLS and Artemis mission architecture, he chose his words carefully.

"Senator, this is the current plan," he said. "I do believe it's the best and fastest way to get there."

However, Isaacman left the door open for future missions, possibly involving SpaceX.

"I don't think it's the long-term way to get to and from the Moon and to Mars with great frequency," he said, faintly echoing Musk's claims that an entire city could be built on Mars using 1,000 Starships.

During his statement, Isaacman repeatedly motioned to the crew of four NASA astronauts, who are scheduled to travel to and around the Moon as part of the agency's Artemis 2 mission, who attended today's hearing.

"But this is the plan we have now and we've gotta get this crew around the Moon, and the follow-on crew to land on the Moon," he added.

During the event, Isaacman also pointedly broke with Musk on the fate of the International Space Station.

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