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Polaris program
Private crewed spaceflight program

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. After being nominated to be Administrator of NASA, Isaacman pledged that, if confirmed, he would cancel his contract with SpaceX for the additional missions, to remove a potential conflict of interest with one of the agency's biggest contractors.

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Flights

Mission nameLaunch date (UTC)Launch vehicleSpacecraftOrbitCrewOutcome
Polaris Dawn (Mission I)10 September 2024, 09:23:49 (2024-09-10UTC09:23:49Z)Falcon 9 Block 5Crew Dragon (C207.3 Resilience)LEO, 1,400 km (870 mi) max apogee.23Success
Mission IITBAFalcon 9 Block 5Crew Dragon TBATBAPlanned
Mission IIITBAStarshipStarshipTBAPlanned

Polaris Dawn

Main article: 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 elliptical 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.4 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.5

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,67 but this option was rejected by NASA in June 2024.8 Data obtained through Polaris Dawn will inform the objectives and timing of Mission II.9

Mission III

The third Polaris mission was set to be the first crewed launch on Starship, SpaceX's next-generation launch system.10 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.11 This is the final listed flight of the Polaris Program.1213

See also

Notes

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References

  1. Berger, Eric (25 March 2025). "Momentum seems to be building for Jared Isaacman to become NASA administrator". Ars Technica. Retrieved 26 March 2025. https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/03/momentum-seems-to-be-building-for-jared-isaacman-to-become-nasa-administrator/ ↩

  2. Berger, Eric (10 September 2024). "Polaris Dawn takes to the skies, setting the stage for a daring private spacewalk". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 12 September 2024. Retrieved 13 September 2024. https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/09/bold-private-spaceflight-begins-early-tuesday-with-a-break-in-the-weather/ ↩

  3. "Polaris Dawn". Polaris Dawn. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2024. https://polarisprogram.com/dawn/ ↩

  4. Berger, Eric (10 September 2024). "Polaris Dawn takes to the skies, setting the stage for a daring private spacewalk". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 12 September 2024. Retrieved 13 September 2024. https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/09/bold-private-spaceflight-begins-early-tuesday-with-a-break-in-the-weather/ ↩

  5. Berger, Eric (12 September 2024). "Two private astronauts took a spacewalk Thursday morning—yes, it was historic". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 12 September 2024. Retrieved 13 September 2024. https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/09/two-private-astronauts-took-a-spacewalk-thursday-morning-yes-it-was-historic/ ↩

  6. Chang, Kenneth (29 September 2022). "NASA May Let Billionaire Astronaut and SpaceX Lift Hubble Telescope". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 6 May 2024. Retrieved 25 April 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/29/science/nasa-hubble-spacex-polaris.html ↩

  7. Gianopoulos, Andrea (22 December 2022). "NASA, SpaceX to Study Hubble Telescope Reboost Possibility". NASA.gov. Retrieved 8 May 2024. https://www.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/nasa-spacex-to-study-hubble-telescope-reboost-possibility/ ↩

  8. Foust, Jeff (15 September 2024). "Crew Dragon splashes down to conclude Polaris Dawn mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 15 September 2024. https://spacenews.com/crew-dragon-splashes-down-to-conclude-polaris-dawn-mission/ ↩

  9. Foust, Jeff (15 September 2024). "Crew Dragon splashes down to conclude Polaris Dawn mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 15 September 2024. https://spacenews.com/crew-dragon-splashes-down-to-conclude-polaris-dawn-mission/ ↩

  10. Foust, Jeff (15 September 2024). "Crew Dragon splashes down to conclude Polaris Dawn mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 15 September 2024. https://spacenews.com/crew-dragon-splashes-down-to-conclude-polaris-dawn-mission/ ↩

  11. Foust, Jeff (8 February 2023). "Shotwell says SpaceX ready for Starship static-fire test". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 15 September 2024. Retrieved 15 September 2024. [Shotwell] said she expected Starship to fly at least 100 times before it carries people for the first time [...] In her later conversation with reporters, she called that 100-flight milestone a "great goal" but suggested it was not a requirement. https://spacenews.com/shotwell-says-spacex-ready-for-starship-static-fire-test/ ↩

  12. Sheetz, Michael (14 February 2022). "Billionaire astronaut Jared Isaacman buys more private SpaceX flights, including one on Starship". CNBC. Archived from the original on 14 February 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/14/jared-isaacman-buys-private-spacex-flights-for-polaris-program.html ↩

  13. Davenport, Christian (14 February 2022). "Jared Isaacman, who led the first all-private astronaut mission to orbit, has commissioned 3 more flights from SpaceX". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 24 February 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/02/14/jared-isaacman-polaris-spacex-starship-inspiration4/ ↩