NASA begins infrastructure overhaul under Isaacman as Trump pushes ambitious space exploration goals
FIRST ON FOX: Recently confirmed NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman is moving to demolish several testing facilities in Alabama as the space agency looks to modernize its infrastructure under Isaacman’s new leadership.
The agency will demolish the Dynamic Test Stand and the Propulsion and Structural Test Facility, known as the T-Tower at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The removal is set to begin Saturday, Jan. 10.
"NASA is embarking on an exciting infrastructure modernization effort to prepare for the future of exploration," Isaacman told Fox News Digital in a statement. "The first phase will make way for new facilities by retiring outdated ones, enabling investments in the capabilities needed to deliver on our world-changing mission of science and discovery."
Sources at NASA tell Fox News Digital the demolition of the facilities is the first step in an initiative to remove 25 outdated structures at the Alabama flight center.
Funding for updated facilities at the Marshall Space Flight Center comes from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump last July. Isaacman and the agency are looking to utilize the funding to bolster NASA’s infrastructure broadly, beyond the Alabama location.
The Propulsion and Structural Test Facility ("T-Tower") was originally constructed by the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency in 1957 before being given to NASA to test boosters featured on Space Shuttle solid rocket boosters and Saturn launch vehicles.
The Dynamic Test Stand was built in 1964 and is used for conducting mechanical and vibrational testing. The facility tested the Saturn V rockets as well as the Space Shuttles.
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Isaacman was confirmed by the Senate in a 67–30 vote on Dec. 17, 2025, after the Trump administration pulled his nomination earlier in the year. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy served as acting administrator before Isaacman was renominated.
The decision to demolish the nearly 70-year-old facilities comes in the new administrator’s first month of running America’s top space exploration agency.
Isaacman, a 42-year-old billionaire entrepreneur and space fanatic, founded and served as CEO of Shift4 Payments and his passion for space led him to command the first all-civilian orbital space mission in 2021, and complete the first-ever commercial spacewalk in 2024.
The NASA administrator faces tall orders from the White House after Trump signed an executive order the day after Isaacman’s confirmation stating the U.S. will be the first to land on Mars and will continue Moon exploration.
"We will lead humanity back to the moon, and the United States will be the first nation to land an astronaut on Mars," Trump stated.
The executive order also calls for Americans’ return to the Moon by 2028, the deployment of nuclear reactors on the Moon and in orbit by 2030, and promoting private sector investment by upgrading launch infrastructure and developing a commercial pathway to replace the International Space Station by 2030.