SpaceX launches private mission expected to feature the first all-civilian spacewalk

A SpaceX capsule carrying four private citizens blasted off early Tuesday on a five-day mission that is set to include the first spacewalk carried out by an all-civilian crew.

The mission, known as Polaris Dawn, lifted off at 5:24 a.m. ET from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 

The journey is designed to carry the four crew members to the highest orbital altitude that humans have reached since the final Apollo moon mission in 1972: 870 miles above Earth’s surface. That’s more than three times higher than the International Space Station.

While in space, the group will test new spacesuits and technologies that could pave the way for future long-duration missions to the moon and eventually Mars.

The four-person crew is made up of billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, founder and CEO of the payment processing company Shift4; retired Air Force Lt. Col. Scott “Kidd” Poteet; and SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon. Isaacman, who previously funded and took part in the first all-civilian SpaceX mission to orbit in 2021, is bankrolling the Polaris Dawn mission in partnership with SpaceX.

The crew members rode to orbit in a Crew Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket.

Shortly after the capsule reached orbit, Isaacman thanked everyone who had supported the mission and came out to watch the liftoff.

“We appreciate it. We’re going to get to work now,” he radioed to mission controllers on the ground.

The spacewalk is scheduled to occur on Thursday at 2:23 a.m. ET. SpaceX will stream the event live. The company said there is a backup spacewalk opportunity on Friday, if needed.

During the spacewalk, Isaacman and Gillis are expected to exit the Crew Dragon spacecraft on a tether, but because the spacecraft does not have a pressurized airlock, the entire capsule will be depressurized and exposed to vacuum conditions. As such, all four astronauts will wear and test newly designed spacesuits during the spacewalk.