SpaceX said Wednesday's launch of a SpaceX rocket that was scheduled to carry a billionaire, a pilot and two employees on a unique space mission including the first private spacewalk in history, Polaris Dawn, has been postponed indefinitely, due to weather risks.
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“Due to unfavorable weather forecasts at the Dragon landing area off the coast of Florida, we are abandoning Falcon 9 launch dates today and tomorrow for Polaris Dawn,” SpaceX said on the X Network.
“Teams continue to monitor the weather for favorable take-off and return conditions,” the operator added.
The launch of the Polaris Dawn mission had already been delayed by 24 hours after a “helium leak” was discovered on Monday on the rocket’s supply link. Helium, a non-flammable gas, is often used in propulsion systems.
The Falcon 9 rocket's liftoff with the Dragon capsule welcoming the crew has been rescheduled for Wednesday at 3:38 a.m. ET (7:38 a.m. GMT) from Kennedy Space Center.
SpaceX confirmed Tuesday that “all systems are ready for launch tomorrow.”
The leader of this five-day mission is American billionaire Jared Isaacman, who has worked with Elon Musk's company for several years.
The flight is intended to be used specifically to test SpaceX's first spacesuits, which are white and futuristic-looking.
The EVA, which promises to be spectacular, was scheduled to be broadcast live on the third day of the mission.
The spacecraft must also reach an altitude of 1,400 kilometers, the farthest the crew has reached since the Apollo lunar missions.
This is the first time SpaceX employees have gone to space: Sarah Gillis is in charge of astronaut training, and Anna Menon worked at NASA before joining SpaceX.
The fourth person on board the plane was pilot Scott Poteet, a former U.S. Air Force veteran and close friend of Jared Isaacman.
The four adventurers underwent intensive training for more than two years: about 2,000 hours in a simulator, sessions in a centrifuge (rapid rotation), diving, parachuting, and even survival training in Ecuador…
Women's record
Polaris aims to be a new milestone for commercial space exploration.
Jared Isaacman, 41, the CEO of financial firm Shift4, already flew to space in 2021 on another SpaceX orbital mission he chartered, Inspiration4, the first mission in history not to include any professional astronauts.
He did not disclose the size of his investment in Polaris. SpaceX's ambitious program should include three missions, including the first crewed flight of the massive Starship rocket, currently under development and intended for trips to the moon and Mars.
“The idea is to develop and test new technologies and maneuvers, to advance SpaceX’s bold vision of enabling humanity to travel between the stars,” he said.
At 1,400 kilometers away — more than three times the distance from the International Space Station — the environment is completely different in terms of radiation and micrometeorites, Isaacman explained.
The spacewalk scheduled for later, in low orbit, will be the first by civilians who are not professional astronauts.
