Polaris program
Private crewed spaceflight program From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Polaris program is a private spaceflight program organized by entrepreneur Jared Isaacman. Building on his experience as commander of the Inspiration4 mission—the first all-civilian spaceflight—Isaacman contracted with SpaceX to establish Polaris. The program involves two missions using SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft and is planned to culminate in the first crewed launch on Starship. The first mission, Polaris Dawn, launched in 2024 and featured the first commercial spacewalk. However, if Isaacman is confirmed as Administrator of NASA, he has pledged to cancel his contract with SpaceX for the additional missions, to remove a potential conflict of interest with one of the agency's biggest contractors.[1]
 | |
| Program overview | |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Organization | SpaceX |
| Status | Active |
| Program history | |
| Duration | 2022–present |
| Launch site(s) | |
| Vehicle information | |
| Crewed vehicle(s) | |
| Launch vehicle(s) | |
Flights
Summarize
Perspective
| Mission name | Launch date (UTC) | Launch vehicle | Spacecraft | Orbit | Crew | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polaris Dawn (Mission I) | 10 September 2024, 09:23:49 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Crew Dragon (C207.3 Resilience) | LEO, 1,400 km (870 mi) max apogee.[2][3] | Success | |
| Mission II | TBA | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Crew Dragon TBA | TBA |
| Planned |
| Mission III | TBA | Starship | Starship | TBA |
| Planned |
Polaris Dawn
On 10 September 2024, The Polaris Dawn mission propelled Isaacman and his crew of three—Scott Poteet, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon—to an elliptic orbit 1,400 kilometres (870 mi) away from Earth. This was farthest anyone had been from Earth since NASA's Apollo program. They passed through parts of the Van Allen radiation belt to study the health effects of space radiation and spaceflight on the human body.[2] Later in the mission, with a lower apogee, Isaacman and Gillis successfully completed the first commercial spacewalk and tested the mobility and functionality of SpaceX's EVA spacesuit.[4]
Mission II
The second mission in the Polaris Program will launch via a Falcon 9 Block 5 vehicle with a Crew Dragon capsule. SpaceX and Polaris had studied a crewed mission to lift the Hubble Space Telescope into a higher orbit to prevent it from burning up in the atmosphere,[5][6] but this option was rejected by NASA in June 2024.[7] Data obtained through Polaris Dawn will inform the objectives and timing of Mission II.[7]
Mission III
The third Polaris mission was set to be the first crewed launch on Starship, SpaceX's next-generation launch system.[7] Starship was in early flight testing as of December 2024 and was expected to carry crew after making at least 100 successful cargo flights, though this was not a firm requirement.[8] This is the final listed flight of the Polaris Program.[9][10]
See also
Notes
References
External links
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