First private spaceflight postponed: Helium leak delays SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission

The company SpaceX announced this Monday, August 26, the postponement of at least 24 hours of the first private space mission involving an extravehicular activity, which was to take off this Tuesday from Florida, due to a “helium leak”.

This unprecedented flight should allow for the first time private passengers to leave their module to move in space, protected only by their suit.

But “the teams (of SpaceX) are examining more closely a helium leak on the ground”, wrote on X the company of Elon Musk. Helium is a non-flammable gas generally used to pressurize rocket fuels.

Offset of 24 hours

The mission, named Polaris Dawn, has therefore been postponed by 24 hours, to 03:38 local time this Wednesday, August 28 in Florida (07:38 GMT). The launch could be postponed again, either later on Wednesday or at the same time on Thursday, SpaceX has warned.

Four people should have the chance to be the first private travelers to temporarily leave their spacecraft. Two of the future passengers are SpaceX employees, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon. They will be accompanied by American billionaire commander Jared Isaacman and a pilot, Scott Poteet, who is close to the businessman.

Mr. Isaacman has already been to space in 2021 aboard another SpaceX mission that he had chartered, Inspiration4, for which he had been trained by Ms. Gillis.

An altitude of 1,400 kilometers

The four adventurers underwent intensive preparation for this five-day mission, which has three main objectives, in addition to the forty or so experiments conducted on board.

First, to reach an altitude of 1,400 kilometers, the furthest distance for a crew since the Apollo lunar missions. For comparison, the International Space Station (ISS) operates at an altitude of approximately 400 kilometers.

First spacewalk for civilians

A laser communication test is also planned between the ship and SpaceX's Starlink satellites. But above all, once in a lower orbit, the famous spacewalk must be broadcast live.

Since the ship – the capsule  Dragon – is not equipped with an airlock, the entire crew will be exposed to the vacuum of space when its hatch is opened. Two passengers will remain on board, while two others will each venture outside in turn.

After this first mission of the Polaris program, a second, similar one, is planned. A third must be the first crewed flight of the mega-rocket Starship of SpaceX currently in development, a heavy launcher intended for trips to the Moon and Mars.