In a groundbreaking achievement for commercial spaceflight, two astronauts—a billionaire and an engineer—made history on Thursday by completing the first-ever private spacewalk during a SpaceX mission. This feat, which was once exclusive to national space programs, marks a significant milestone in the advancement of privately funded space exploration. The astronauts wore a new line of spacesuits, specifically developed by SpaceX, as they ventured outside the Crew Dragon capsule in orbit.
The mission, known as Polaris Dawn, saw the astronauts exit the spacecraft one at a time. Each astronaut spent approximately 10 minutes outside the capsule, tethered for safety, in what was a highly risky operation. Once again, Elon Musk’s SpaceX has proven its ability to push the boundaries of commercial space travel.
The first astronaut to exit the capsule was Jared Isaacman, a seasoned pilot and the founder of Shift4 Payments (FOUR.N), a major electronic payments company. Isaacman was followed by Sarah Gillis, a SpaceX engineer. Inside the capsule, their colleagues Scott Poteet and Anna Menon monitored the spacewalk, which took place at an altitude of 450 miles (730 km) above Earth. The entire event lasted 1 hour and 46 minutes.
Isaacman is no stranger to space missions; he also funded the Inspiration4 flight with SpaceX in 2021. Like his previous venture, Isaacman is personally bankrolling the Polaris mission, reinforcing the growing trend of privately funded space exploration.
The mission, streamed live on SpaceX’s website, tested groundbreaking technology, including innovative spacesuits and the process of fully depressurizing the Crew Dragon capsule. This equipment is part of Musk’s long-term plan to develop advanced technologies for future private missions to Mars.
As Isaacman emerged from the spacecraft, he remarked, “Back at home we all have a lot of work to do. But from here, Earth sure looks like a perfect world,”—a statement that captured the awe-inspiring nature of the experience as the Earth glittered beneath him, half-lit by the sun.
This mission was particularly risky for SpaceX, which remains the only private company capable of regularly sending people to and from orbit. Before the spacewalk began at 6:52 a.m. ET (1052 GMT), the Crew Dragon capsule was completely depressurized, forcing the astronauts to rely entirely on their SpaceX-developed spacesuits for oxygen. Oxygen was supplied through an umbilical connection to the capsule.
Both Isaacman, 41, and Gillis, 30, ascended from the hatch door of the capsule to test various body movements in the new spacesuits. The astronauts provided feedback to ground control, offering crucial insights into potential design improvements for future space missions. The suits allowed for movement at the elbow and shoulder, but the astronauts’ movements appeared more restricted at the waist, back, and neck.
The method used during this mission was reminiscent of the first U.S. spacewalk in 1965 during the Gemini capsule mission. Similar to that mission, the Crew Dragon capsule was depressurized, and the astronauts ventured outside while tethered to the spacecraft. This procedure allowed SpaceX to test the limits of what private companies can achieve in orbit.
Once the spacewalk was complete, ground teams at SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California, ensured the capsule’s hatch was securely closed and carried out extensive leak checks. The astronauts then returned to their cabin seats.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson praised the mission’s success, calling it a “giant leap forward” for the commercial space industry and its potential role in establishing a sustainable U.S. space economy. Nelson’s words signal the increasing collaboration between government agencies and private companies in the realm of space exploration.
Isaacman has not disclosed the cost of the Polaris mission, but estimates suggest it is in the hundreds of millions of dollars, based on the Crew Dragon’s price tag of $55 million per seat for other flights.
The mission's crew includes Sarah Gillis, who began her career at SpaceX as an intern in 2015, Scott Poteet, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, and Anna Menon, a SpaceX engineer. Together, they represent the cutting edge of private space exploration.
During Wednesday's mission, the crew orbited Earth at least six times in an oval-shaped orbit, ranging from a low altitude of 118 miles (190 km) to a high altitude of 870 miles (1,400 km). This journey represents the farthest humans have traveled into space since the Apollo missions in the 1970s.
The Polaris mission occurred at a time when a record 19 astronauts are currently in orbit, following the recent Soyuz MS-26 mission that transported two Russian cosmonauts and an American astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS). Currently, 12 astronauts are stationed on the ISS, with an additional three Chinese astronauts aboard the Tiangong space station.
Since 2001, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon has become the only U.S. vehicle consistently capable of transporting people to orbit and bringing them back safely. Crew Dragon has completed over a dozen astronaut missions, primarily for NASA, which helped fund the capsule’s development.
Another significant capsule developed under NASA’s commercial program is Boeing’s Starliner, which recently completed a test mission that saw the capsule return to Earth empty, leaving its crew aboard the ISS for future retrieval.