Polaris Dawn latest: SpaceX crew complete first ever ‘stand-up’ civilian spacewalk

SpaceX made history today as its private astronauts conducted the first ever civilian spacewalk as part of its Polaris Dawn mission.

Two astronauts partially exited a SpaceX Crew Dragon craft, one at a time, as it orbited Earth at a speed of more than 25,000 kilometres per hour and an altitude of around 740 kilometres.

The crew of four began venting air from the cabin at 1031 GMT and finally opened the hatch manually at around 1050 GMT. All wore SpaceX’s new spacesuit model, which has been thoroughly tested on Earth but never in orbit.

Jared Isaacman, mission commander for the flight and head of and billionaire co-funder of SpaceX’s Polaris programme, was the first to exit the spacecraft and look down on Earth. “From here it sure looks like a perfect world,” said Isaacman as he raised his head and torso out of the capsule.

Isaacman then carried out a range of checks on the mobility and safety of his spacesuit before returning to his seat inside the craft after several minutes. Following this, the Crew Dragon fired its thrusters to sustain an optimal orbit, and then SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis made her spacewalk.

Neither Isaacman nor Gillis fully left the craft, making the event technically a stand-up extravehicular activity (SEVA) than a full EVA. Previous SpaceX promotional material for the mission had shown an astronaut fully outside the capsule.

Every previous spacewalk until today was performed by government-trained astronauts, while the crew of Polaris Dawn are all private civilians. Onboard with Isaacman and Gillis were retired US Air Force test pilot Scott Poteet and SpaceX engineer Anna Menon.

Isaacman was also part of a previous groundbreaking SpaceX flight in 2021, which was the first orbital spaceflight with only civilians aboard. It used the very same Crew Dragon capsule as in the latest mission.

SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission was one of the riskiest spacewalks ever attempted because the Crew Dragon capsule lacks an airlock, harking back to the early space programme of the 1960s and 1970s.

With the SEVA complete, the rest of the mission will see the crew spend up to two more days in orbit before returning to Earth.