SpaceX Polaris Dawn Mission Preps For Historic Private Spacewalk

SpaceX is preparing for its upcoming Polaris Dawn mission, which will feature the space company’s first-ever spacewalk attempt. The four-person crew will comprise billionaire Jared Isaacman, colleague Scott Poteet, and two SpaceX employees, Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis, and is scheduled to launch no sooner than August 26, 2024.

While some billionaires may purchase flights into space as a once-in-a-lifetime experience, Jared Isaacman takes it to another level. The Shift4 founder already led a different four-person crew aboard the Inspiration4 in 2021, which successfully took an all-civilian crew into orbit. Now, Isaacman is looking to add another notch to his space belt by leading SpaceX’s first attempt at a spacewalk. The Polaris Dawn mission will be the first of three flights Isaacman purchased from SpaceX in 2022.

According to the Polaris Dawn website, the crew will spend up to five days in orbit, during which they will work towards several objectives. The first will include flying higher than any Dragon mission to date and endeavoring to reach the highest Earth orbit flown to date. Its initial orbit will be at an astonishing 870 miles (1,400km) above Earth, or about 3 1/2 times higher than the International Space Station.

“We’re going to a very high altitude that humans haven’t gone to in 50-plus years,” Isaacman remarked in a recent interview.

The second, and perhaps the most anticipated, will occur while the spacecraft is approximately 700 kilometers above the Earth when the crew will attempt the first-ever commercial extravehicular activity (EVA) with SpaceX-designed EVA spacesuits. The EVA, or spacewalk, is anticipated to take place on day three of the journey, with the entire process lasting about two hours. Isaacman and Gillis will venture outside the spacecraft, while Poteet and Menon remain inside, with all four being exposed to the vacuum of space. Isaacman stressed about the event it “is really a test and development” process.


Isaacman added that the missions primary goal is to learn as much about the new spacesuits as possible. “Everything is about building the next generation. We’re continuing to iterate on this suit design so that SpaceX can have hundreds or thousands someday for the moon, Mars, working in [low Earth orbit], what have you. Building a new EVA suit is no easy task,” he added.

Another objective includes the crew testing Starlink laser-based communications in space, which is aimed at providing valuable data for future space communications systems necessary for missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. A fourth aim will include scientific research designed to advance both human health on Earth and understanding of human health during future long-duration spaceflights.

The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission is currently set to launch from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida in the early morning hours of August 26.