CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman rocketed into space on Tuesday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, aiming to conduct the first-ever private spacewalk. The mission marks a significant milestone in private space exploration, pushing the boundaries beyond NASA’s Apollo moonshots.
Isaacman, who previously funded a private space mission, shared the cost of this ambitious venture with SpaceX, which involved developing and testing brand new spacesuits. “We’re really starting to push the frontiers with the private sector,” said William Gerstenmaier, SpaceX’s vice president, who once led space mission operations for NASA.
The crew of four, including Isaacman, two SpaceX engineers, and a former Air Force pilot, launched just before dawn from Florida. Their five-day mission aims to reach an altitude of 870 miles (1,400 kilometers), surpassing the International Space Station (ISS) and even the Hubble Space Telescope. This will be the farthest anyone has traveled since NASA’s Project Gemini in 1966, with only the 24 Apollo astronauts who flew to the moon having ventured farther.
The team will spend 10 hours at that height, exposed to extreme radiation and space debris, before lowering their orbit to 435 miles (700 kilometers). During this time, Isaacman and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis will take turns testing their custom-made spacesuits during a two-hour spacewalk. The spacewalk, considered one of the riskiest parts of any space mission, will see the pair carefully exiting the Dragon capsule while always maintaining physical contact with the spacecraft.
Unlike NASA astronauts, Isaacman and Gillis will not use jetpacks or drift freely. They will remain tethered to the capsule, testing the mobility of their white and black-trimmed spacesuits. The entire Dragon capsule will be depressurized for the spacewalk, exposing the crew to the harsh vacuum of space.
Inside the capsule, pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet and SpaceX’s Anna Menon will monitor the spacewalk, ensuring the safety of their colleagues. “We’re sending you hugs from the ground,” Launch Director Frank Messina radioed after the crew reached orbit. Isaacman responded with gratitude: “We wouldn’t be on this journey without all 14,000 of you back at SpaceX and everyone else cheering us on.”
The mission, dubbed Polaris Dawn, is the first of three that Isaacman purchased from Elon Musk two and a half years ago. This flight follows Isaacman’s first private space mission in 2021, which raised hundreds of millions of dollars for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. While the exact cost of this mission remains undisclosed, Isaacman made it clear he’s not revealing the total investment. “Not a chance,” he said at a preflight news conference.
The crew has undergone extensive training for this mission, with Poteet comparing the preparation to his rigorous Air Force flying career. The development of the spacesuits took longer than anticipated, delaying the flight. Training for Isaacman and his team was led by Gillis and Menon, who have also helped prepare NASA’s professional crews.
Isaacman, CEO of the credit card processing company Shift4, is motivated by a vision of expanding human exploration in space. “I wasn’t alive when humans walked on the moon. I’d certainly like my kids to see humans walking on the moon and Mars, and venturing out and exploring our solar system,” the 41-year-old entrepreneur remarked before liftoff.
The mission had faced a two-week delay due to poor weather conditions. The crew needed favorable weather not only for the launch but also for the splashdown, as they could not reach the ISS for resupply if needed. The mission will conclude with a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast.
This historic mission represents a new frontier in space exploration, with private citizens now playing an increasingly prominent role in advancing spaceflight technology and capabilities.
Gary P Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
