WASHINGTON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect

Donald Trump on Wednesday tapped Jared Isaacman to lead the

National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Isaacman, CEO of payment processing company Shift4 Payments ( FOUR )

, has been a close associate of Elon Musk and his space

company SpaceX for years and leads Polaris, a program using

SpaceX vehicles to conduct private astronaut missions in orbit.

"Jared will drive NASA's mission of discovery and

inspiration, paving the way for groundbreaking achievements in

Space science, technology, and exploration," Trump said in a

post on his Truth Social platform.

Isaacman, if confirmed, would oversee a $25 billion

agency heavily focused on returning humans to the moon under its

Artemis program, a multibillion dollar effort promoted by Trump

during his first term that will rely on SpaceX's Starship.