SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission lifts off ahead of planned first commercial spacewalk

(CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.) — After two weeks of delays, the ambitious Polaris Dawn space mission, led by billionaire Jared Isaacman and in collaboration with SpaceX, launched early Tuesday morning.

The four-person civilian crew launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday at 5:23 a.m. ET in SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, according to a social media post by the aerospace company.

Lift off came after one final two-hour delay due to “unfavorable weather at the launch site,” as reported SpaceX.

Isaacman, the CEO of the payment-processing company Shift4, is joined on the mission by former Air Force pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet and two SpaceX engineers, Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis.

The highly anticipated program faced a series of delays since the originally planned Aug. 26 launch due to unfavorable weather conditions and a ground system issue at the launch site.

Prepping for another possible delay, SpaceX said ahead of the launch that the weather forecast for Tuesday remained uncertain.

“Weather is currently 40% favorable for liftoff, and conditions at the possible splashdown sites for Dragon’s return to Earth remain a watch item,” the company wrote on X Sunday.

Despite the forecast, Issacman remained hopeful about this week’s launch possibility, writing on X, “This is a big improvement over the last two weeks. We are getting closer to getting this mission to orbit.”

The mission was previously delayed due to a ground-side helium leak on the Quick Disconnect (QD) umbilical, SpaceX said on Aug. 26. Umbilical systems employ QD fluid connectors to transfer fluids into a vehicle, according to NASA.

If successful, the Polaris Dawn mission is poised to make history by launching four private citizens into ultrahigh orbit, ascending to 870 miles above Earth. This would be the highest altitude of any human spaceflight mission since the Apollo program, more than a half century ago.

The program is set to span five days under normal conditions and will see two of the crew members exit the spacecraft in the first commercial spacewalk, at an altitude of 435 miles above Earth.

Due to the absence of an airlock on the SpaceX Dragon capsule, all four crew members will be exposed to the vacuum of space during the ambitious spacewalk.

The spacewalk will also serve as a critical test for SpaceX’s new extravehicular activity (EVA) spacesuits, an evolution of the intravehicular activity (IVA) suit.

This new design includes a heads-up display, helmet camera, and enhanced joint mobility. It also features thermal insulation, solar protection, and a suspension system that allows the wearer to pressurize the suit, don a harness and execute operations as if they were weightless.

The Dragon spacecraft also has undergone significant modifications, including upgrades to the life support systems to supply more oxygen during spacewalks, according to the Polaris program. Environmental sensing has been improved, and a new nitrogen re-pressurization system has been installed, according to the program.

The Polaris Dawn mission will be Isaacman’s second journey to space. In 2021, he funded his first mission to orbit Earth. The project was billed as a childhood cancer fundraiser, garnering $250 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and marked the first all-civilian mission in Earth orbit.