On the morning of September 10th, SpaceX launched a crew of 4 non-professional astronauts 870 miles above Earth’s surface to test the performance of the company’s spacesuits while in orbit as part of its Polaris Dawn space mission. One of the members of this crew in particular is notable for the lead role he plays in the mission’s overall backing and implementation.
Jared Isaacman is a 41 year old billionaire hailing from Easton, Pennsylvania who is a part of the crew and one of the principal investors behind the Polaris Dawn mission. A graduate of the prestigious Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, he founded his payment processing company Shift4 Payments in 1999 that now lists about a third of America’s restaurants and hotels as clients. In 2011, he started the defense firm Draken International, a chief supplier of military aircraft and air force training. Through these endeavors, Isaacman has built a net worth close to $2 billion which he has used to help fund 2 non-professional space missions: Inspiration4 in 2021 and the current Polaris Dawn mission.
Isaacman’s role in the mission is notable as he is one of 2 crew members permitted to perform a spacewalk outside the SpaceX capsule to test the efficacy of the new spacesuits. Additionally, he is helping to conduct 40 experiments aimed at using the increased radiation levels found in space to take X-ray images without the use of a purpose-built X-ray machine in addition to assisting NASA’s tests on the viability of telemedicine for astronauts in space. His aviation pedigree suits him well for this leading role, with 7,000 flight hours on experimental and ex-military aircraft as well as 2 record-breaking speed-around-the-world flights already under his belt.
While the glamor of Isaacman’s billionaire-funded space travel brings much needed attention to the world of space research, questions arise on the ethics regarding private involvement in the space industry. Under the auspices of NASA in the mid-20th century, the United States was able to acquire the best scientific and mathematical talent that culminated in humanity’s first steps on the moon and the advancement of jet propulsion technology. Since Neil Armstrong’s famous moonwalk, however, the political will to contribute exorbitant funds to NASA subsided as NASA’s annual budget as a share of the U.S. federal government’s total annual budget fell from close to 60% in 1964 to 0.4% in 2024. These budget cuts to NASA have resulted in billionaires like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Jared Isaacman becoming the new face of extraterrestrial scientific progress. Their companies, in turn, have received billions of dollars in federal grants to launch spacecraft and conduct research in space — two domains that were once firmly NASA’s responsibility. These grants, however, are tiny in comparison to NASA’s historically mammoth-sized budgets. In an 18-year span between 2003 and 2021, SpaceX received a total of $15.3 billion in government contracts while the federal government awarded NASA a budget of $68 billion in 1964 alone. As market competition in the space exploration and research industry grows, companies may resort to shaky or non-existent findings or hire underqualified researchers in a quest to gain increased funding for space research.
“NASA’s annual budget as a share of the U.S. federal government’s total annual budget fell from close to 60% in 1964 to 0.4% in 2024.”
Furthermore, these companies’ increasing pursuit of manned spaceflight draws concern to the lack of extensive government regulations regarding space exploration, leading to a potential clash of corporate interests with safety standards. Scandals involving dismissed data on astronaut safety have already plagued renowned space agencies like NASA, who under pressure to meet a looming launch deadline ignored concerns about faulty O-rings in the Challenger spacecraft that eventually caused the 1986 Challenger disaster. With space research now in the hands of billionaires who are more subject to shareholders and market pressures than scant government regulation regarding space exploration, the likelihood of such disasters occurring again is only growing higher.
“With space research now in the hands of billionaires who are more subject to shareholders and market pressures than scant government regulation regarding space exploration, the likelihood of such disasters occurring again is only growing higher.”
As for the current Polaris Dawn mission, though, Isaacman’s heart is in the right place. After previously generating $250 million for cancer research at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital during the Inspiration4 mission, he plans on doing the same for Polaris Dawn as well.
