SpaceX to Launch 3 More Human-Led Space Missions, Conduct a Spacewalk
After last year’s successful Inspiration4 mission, SpaceX has announced the Polaris Program, an effort to send at least three more human-led missions into space.
The first Polaris Program mission could occur as soon as the fourth quarter, and it’ll involve the first-ever spacewalk from a commercial company. This means a human fitted in a SpaceX-designed spacesuit will walk outside the craft.
The second flight has yet to be fleshed out; SpaceX says only that it will "continue to expand the boundaries of future human spaceflight missions, in-space communications, and scientific research." But the third mission will be a human-crewed flight using SpaceX’s upcoming Starship craft, which is designed to send people to the Moon and Mars.
The program’s goal is “to rapidly advance human spaceflight capabilities” by testing various technologies from SpaceX for future space missions. For example, the first Polaris mission will demo the company’s satellite internet service Starlink and its ability to send laser-based communications in space. SpaceX then plans on using data from the demo to develop a space-communication system capable of supporting missions to the moon and Mars.
The Polaris Program also builds on last September’s Inspiration4 mission, which involved SpaceX sending up a crew of private citizens into orbit for three days. Jared Isaacman, the CEO of Shift4 Payments, who flew on Inspiration4 as mission commander, will return to lead the first Polaris flight. Joining him on the mission will be retired US Air Force Lt. Col. Scott Poteet and two engineers from SpaceX, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon.
Like Inspiration4, the first Polaris mission will use a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to send up a human-crewed Dragon capsule into
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