Tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman’s historic private spacewalk with SpaceX has been delayed by several hours. Originally set to begin shortly after 2:30 a.m. ET, the spacewalk was postponed with no immediate reason provided. SpaceX assured the public via X (formerly Twitter) that “all systems are looking good.”
Isaacman and a SpaceX engineer are slated to take turns exiting their capsule, orbiting hundreds of miles above Earth, while two other crew members remain securely seated inside. The mission, known as Polaris Dawn, is focused on testing SpaceX’s newly developed commercial spacesuits for extravehicular activities (EVA).
The Polaris Dawn mission, which launched earlier this week for a five-day journey, marks the first-ever commercial spacewalk. The crew consists of Isaacman, who previously commanded the all-civilian Inspiration4 mission, alongside specialists Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, and pilot Scott Poteet.
The planned two-hour spacewalk will see two crew members exiting the spacecraft for approximately 20 minutes to conduct vital tests on the new spacesuits. Earlier in the mission, the crew achieved a milestone by reaching an altitude of around 870 miles (1,400 kilometers), the highest any human has traveled since NASA’s Gemini 11 mission in 1966, and farther than anyone has gone since the Apollo missions.
As they prepare for the spacewalk, the crew will rely on various mobility aids developed by SpaceX. Isaacman expressed enthusiasm about the suit tests, saying, “We’ll be using different mobility tools designed by SpaceX, and it may look a bit like we’re performing a dance, but that’s part of the testing process.”
With the new spacewalk schedule pending, the crew remains ready to gather crucial data on the spacesuits, which could play a key role in future commercial space missions.
