The first-ever commercial spacewalk was completed by two private astronauts aboard a SpaceX spacecraft on Thursday, marking a milestone for the all-civilian Polaris Dawn mission as SpaceX moves towards commercializing space travel. The mission included tech billionaire Jared Isaacman, who exited the Dragon capsule along with SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis to complete the spacewalk.
The spacewalk took place over Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Ocean, with Isaacman and Gillis spending about 10 minutes each outside the capsule. The Polaris Dawn mission, which also includes crew members Scott Poteet and Anna Menon remaining in the capsule, was launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on a Falcon 9 rocket on Tuesday before completing the spacewalk on Thursday morning.
NASA’s administrator, Bill Nelson, hailed the mission as a significant step forward for the commercial space industry, emphasizing the agency’s goal of building a vibrant U.S. space economy. The mission is also notable for being the furthest crewed space mission since NASA’s Apollo moon missions in the 1970s, reaching an altitude of about 870 miles. Additionally, the Polaris Dawn crew experiences a sunrise roughly every 106 minutes, adding a unique aspect to their journey.
The Polaris Dawn mission is a five-day mission aimed at testing SpaceX’s spacecraft and spacesuit, as well as the company’s goal of commercializing space travel. The mission will also test SpaceX’s Starlink satellite communication network by sending information from other experiments aboard the spacecraft, such as tests on how radiation in space affects the human body. SpaceX founder Elon Musk has expressed intentions to send out two other Polaris missions, potentially including a trip to the Hubble Space Telescope, to further contribute to their goal of sending humans to the moon and Mars.
Jared Isaacman, the founder and CEO of payment processing firm Shift4 Payments, has a net worth of $1.9 billion and owns roughly 38% of shares in the company. He funded the Polaris Dawn mission and was also a part of SpaceX’s Inspiration4 mission in 2021, the first all-civilian orbital spaceflight. With SpaceX’s ambitions towards commercializing space travel and eventually colonizing Mars, the success of the Polaris Dawn mission marks a significant step in that direction.
The completion of the first-ever commercial spacewalk by private astronauts aboard a SpaceX spacecraft is a major accomplishment for the company’s efforts towards commercializing space travel. With the Polaris Dawn mission testing various aspects of SpaceX’s technology and communication networks, including the Starlink satellite system, the mission is a crucial step towards sending humans to the moon and eventually Mars. The involvement of tech billionaire Jared Isaacman, who funded the mission and has a significant stake in Shift4 Payments, adds a unique perspective to the mission and highlights the increasing role of private individuals in the space industry.
