SpaceX set for historic Polaris Dawn launch, first commercial spacewalk

By James Rogers

Elon Musk's SpaceX is now targeting Aug. 27 for the debut launch of the Polaris Program's three human spaceflights

Elon Musk's SpaceX is now targeting Aug. 27 for the first launch of the private Polaris Program's three human spaceflights, the company announced late Wednesday. The debut mission, Polaris Dawn, will see the company's first commercial spacewalk.

SpaceX has maintained a busy schedule of crewed and uncrewed launches while NASA and rival Boeing Co. (BA) attempt to resolve issues with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft.

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The Polaris Program is the brainchild of Jared Isaacman, the chief executive of Shift4 Payments Inc. (FOUR). An experienced private astronaut, in 2021 Isaacman commanded the all-civilian Inspiration4 mission operated by SpaceX, which raised over $240 million for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The Polaris Program is also fundraising for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Isaacman is the Polaris Dawn mission commander. Retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Scott Poteet, who was the Inspiration4 flight director, is the Polaris Dawn's mission pilot. Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, lead space-operations engineers at SpaceX, are the Polaris Dawn mission specialists, with Menon also fulfilling the role of medical officer.

Launching atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, Polaris Dawn will transport 36 experiments into space and spend up to five days in orbit. The mission's research aims to advance both human health on Earth and the understanding of human health during future long-duration spaceflights, according to the Polaris Program. At approximately 435 miles above Earth, crewmembers will exit the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to conduct the first-ever astronaut spacewalk for a commercial company. The mission will also be the first to test Starlink laser-based communications in space.

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"This will be the first spacewalk by a commercial company and the furthest from Earth anyone has traveled in over half a century!" SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk wrote on X late Wednesday.

Polaris Dawn's launch was previously targeted for Aug. 26. "The new date allows additional time for teams to complete preflight checkouts ahead of next week's launch," SpaceX posted on X.

"We will happily take an extra day to ensure readiness," Isaacman posted on X.

Related: Bitcoin entrepreneur teams with SpaceX to command first manned spaceflight over Earth's poles

The third and final mission of the Polaris Program will mark the first human spaceflight on SpaceX's Starship rocket.

SpaceX has hit a number of milestones in recent years. In May 2020, the private space company made its first crewed test flight to the International Space Station atop a Falcon 9 rocket, marking the first time that U.S. astronauts launched to space from American soil since 2011. Since then, the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft has flown several manned missions to the ISS. The Crew-8 mission, which launched on March 3, is SpaceX's eighth crew-rotation mission and its ninth flight with astronauts, including the Demo-2 test flight in May 2020.

NASA even discussed the possibility of bringing astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams back to Earth on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft amid ongoing issues with the Boeing Co. Starliner capsule that transported them to the International Space Station earlier this summer. The next SpaceX Crew Dragon flight, Crew-9, will launch to the ISS no earlier than Sept. 24. and is expected to return to Earth in February 2025.

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Recent months have been busy for SpaceX, which completed the fourth test flight of its Starship, marking another milestone for the company's giant spacecraft and rocket. The largest rocket ever built, Starship provides more than twice the thrust of NASA's Saturn V rockets that took astronauts to the moon. Together, the Starship spacecraft and the Super Heavy rocket are 396 feet high, taller than the Statue of Liberty or a Saturn V rocket.

SpaceX maintains a high launch tempo, and started the year by sending its first Starlink direct-to-cell satellites into orbit. Last year, the company completed more than 90 launches. It's targeting 12 launches a month in 2024.

Earlier this month SpaceX said it is planning the first human spaceflight to fly over Earth's poles. The Fram2 mission will be the first human spaceflight mission to explore Earth from a polar orbit and will fly over the planet's polar regions for the first time, the company added. Bitcoin entrepreneur Chun Wang will command the mission.

-James Rogers

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08-22-24 0949ET

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