SpaceX Launches the First Polaris Dawn Mission with a Risky Spacewalk in New Spacesuits

A SpaceX Dragon space capsule with four private astronauts on board launched on 10 September from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Polaris Dawn mission was scheduled to begin in late August but was delayed due to technical problems and unfavourable weather forecasts for the crew's return.

This is reported by SpaceX on the X platform.

Billionaire Jared Isaacson, who funded the mission, retired Air Force Colonel Scott (Kidd) Poteet, and SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon are on board the capsule.

During the five-day flight, the team will attempt the world's first commercial spacewalk. It will also be the first spacewalk from the Dragon capsule.

One of the main goals of the mission is to send the crew to a distance of about 1,400 kilometres from Earth, which is the largest distance since the Apollo programme. The route will pass through the Van Allen radiation belt.

Source: John Kraus of Polaris Program

Polaris Dawn is the first of three missions planned under Jared Isaacson's Polaris programme. The crew will test SpaceX's new spacewalking suit, which is designed to protect astronauts when they open the capsule's escape door.

The spacewalk is scheduled to take place in orbit at an altitude of about 700 kilometres above the Earth's surface, and two crew members will leave the capsule. At the same time, the entire capsule will be depressurised, and only the spacesuits will be relied upon.