SpaceX Polaris - as it happened: Billionaire floats into space on risky first private spacewalk

A billionaire going on a privately-funded spacewalk is proving as polarising as it is pioneering.

The Polaris Dawn mission, conducted by SpaceX but paid for by US entrepreneur and mission commander Jared Isaacman, is the latest in a series of commercial ventures that are opening up space to anyone rich enough to pay for it. Previous private space flights have been praised by some for heralding a new era of space access, while being ridiculed by others as the latest folly of self-indulgent billionaires.

But this mission is a giant leap from the vainglorious joyrides to the edge of space undertaken by Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson, who blew their billions on unconvincing attempts to call themselves astronauts. (Despite Blue Origin repeatedly referring to Bezos as an “international astronaut” during his 10-minute flight to the Kármán line in 2021, the trip did not meet the astronaut criteria set out by the US Federal Aviation Administration, which states that crew members must take part in activities that are “essential to public safety, or contributed to human space flight safety”.)

By contrast, Polaris Dawn will travel more than 10-times further than either Blue Origin or Virgin Galactic have ventured and will last for days, not minutes. More than just a nice view for the crew, SpaceX says the mission will provide “valuable insight to future missions on the road to making life multiplanetary”, alluding to Elon Musk’s ambition to colonise Mars.

Despite being the boss of SpaceX, Musk has never actually travelled to space, leaving it instead to Nasa astronauts and the occasional civilian. But the world’s richest person has said that he hopes to die on Mars – just not on impact

You can read more about why the Polaris Dawn mission might actually matter here:

While we wait for the live stream of the Polaris Dawn spacewalk, you can watch SpaceX’s latest launch from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

It is the 13th flight for the Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this Bluebird I-5 mission, and the 91st orbital launch for SpaceX this year – just five shy of the record the company set in 2023.

The live stream of the spacewalk, which is due to get underway at 5:58am ET (10:58am BST), is finally available. You can watch it here:

SpaceX is performing a number of checks ahead of the spacewalk attempt, which should be taking place in less than 30 minutes.

The whole of the Crew Dragon craft, which has been named Resilience for the Polaris Dawn mission, needs to be depressurised, as the capsule has no airlock.

This is where crew members Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis will emerge from shortly:

There are three ways that Crew Dragon can be configured for various activities. The one they’ll be using today is the ‘Skywalker’ mode, which is a new configuration that will see handles added to the hatch to assist the astronauts as they leave the spacecraft.

The craft has entered this mode as the crew make their final preparations for the spacewalk, which is due to take place in about 15 minutes.

The Polaris Dawn crew are all suited up and will soon perform the EVA suit leak checks before the spacewalk begins.

It’s going to be a little later than scheduled, but still going ahead.

We’re getting the first live views from inside the Crew Dragon capsule as they complete the final checks before cabin depressurisation. That’s mission commander (and funder) Jared Isaacman on the right.

SpaceX has just given the go-ahead for the spacewalk to begin.

All crew members give final confirmation as their suits fill with oxygen and the capsule is depressurised.

All crew members are fitted with open mics, so they can all hear each other during the mission Their voices are actually changing as they enter the lower pressure environment.

I wonder if they’ve prepared some poignant words for the moment they exit the craft.

We’re still waiting for the hatch to open as the capsule continues to depressurise. It’s hard to hear what the crew members are saying to each other due to the flow of air into the suits. Isaacman is still holding on to the hatch’s handle as he waits for the signal that he can open.

The capsule is under 3psi, and it needs to be around 1psi before he can attempt to open the hatch.