SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission, which was scheduled to launch on Tuesday, has been postponed by at least one day due to a helium leak in the ground equipment at Kennedy Space Center. The delay comes just hours before the planned liftoff of the Crew Dragon capsule.
The mission, which is set to last five days, will feature a historic spacewalk 434 miles (700 km) from Earth. This spacewalk, expected to take place two days after launch, will be the first private spacewalk in history.
The launch will be conducted using a Falcon 9 booster. SpaceX stated that teams are investigating the helium leak issue but assured that the Falcon rocket and Dragon spacecraft are in good condition. The crew, consisting of four members, is ready for their mission to low-Earth orbit.
Historically, spacewalks have only been performed by government astronauts, with the most recent ones conducted on the International Space Station. The first U.S. spacewalk occurred in 1965 aboard a Gemini capsule, where astronauts exited the spacecraft while it was depressurized.
For the Polaris Dawn mission, the crew will be using SpaceX’s new, slimline spacesuits during their spacewalk. Out 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—only Isaacman and Poteet will be exiting the spacecraft.
Jared Isaacman, the mission’s financier and founder of electronic payment company Shift4, has not disclosed the exact cost of the mission, but it is estimated to exceed $100 million (approximately Rs. 839 crores).
