Polaris Dawn Mission Delayed

By Gerry Doyle

(Reuters) – The launch of SpaceX’s four-person Polaris Dawn mission has been delayed by at least a day due to a helium leak in ground equipment at Kennedy Space Center, the company announced on Tuesday, just hours before the scheduled liftoff of its Crew Dragon capsule.

The highlight of the five-day mission is expected to occur two days after launch, when the crew will embark on a 20-minute spacewalk 434 miles (700 km) from Earth, marking the first private spacewalk in history.

SpaceX now aims to launch the spacecraft, which will be carried by a Falcon 9 booster, at 3:38 a.m. (0738 GMT) on Wednesday, as stated in a post on X.

“Teams are taking a closer look at a ground-side helium leak,” the company added in Tuesday’s post. “Falcon and Dragon remain healthy, and the crew continues to be ready for their multi-day mission to low-Earth orbit.”

Until now, only government astronauts have performed spacewalks, most recently by occupants of the International Space Station who don spacesuits to perform maintenance and other checks on their orbital home.

The first U.S. spacewalk occurred in 1965 from a Gemini capsule and used a procedure similar to the one planned for Polaris Dawn: the capsule was depressurized, the hatch was opened, and an astronaut in a spacesuit ventured outside on a tether.

During the spacewalk, Polaris Dawn’s crew will test SpaceX’s new, slimline spacesuits.

Only two of the four crew members—billionaire Jared Isaacman, mission pilot Scott Poteet (a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel), and SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon—will leave the spacecraft.

Isaacman, the founder of the electronic payment company Shift4, has financed the mission but declined to reveal the total cost, which is estimated to exceed $100 million.