SpaceX initially scheduled Falcon 9’s launch of Polaris Dawn for Wednesday, 2024-08-28 at 3:38 a.m. ET from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The Dragon spacecraft supporting Polaris Dawn previously flew NASA Crew-1 to and from the International Space Station.
SpaceX scheduled Falcon 9’s launch of Polaris Dawn to low-Earth orbit on Wednesday, 2024-08-28 at 3:38 a.m. ET from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The Polaris Dawn private astronaut mission has been put on hold as a result of the Falcon 9 failure.
The Polaris Dawn private astronaut mission was scheduled to launch a Crew Dragon spacecraft at the end of July using Falcon 9.
Polaris Dawn, a private astronaut mission that will send four people on a Crew Dragon to test high-altitude operations and a new SpaceX-developed spacesuit, is on hold after being scheduled to launch as soon as 2024-07-31 from Florida.
Polaris Dawn was once planned for late 2022 but was delayed several times and is now scheduled for early summer.
The Falcon 9 launching Polaris Dawn will place Crew Dragon into an initial elliptical orbit of approximately 190 by 1,200 km.
Crew Dragon on Polaris Dawn will raise its apogee to about 1,400 km, the highest altitude for a crewed mission since Apollo 17 in 1972.
Polaris Dawn will launch no earlier than summer 2024 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
At approximately 700 km altitude, the Polaris Dawn crew will attempt the first-ever commercial extravehicular activity (EVA) using SpaceX-designed EVA spacesuits upgraded from the current intravehicular (IVA) suit.
Polaris Dawn will test intersatellite communications using optical links between the Crew Dragon spacecraft and Starlink satellites.
When SpaceX and the Polaris Program announced Polaris Dawn two years ago, they projected a launch as early as the fourth quarter of 2022.
Polaris Dawn is intended to perform the first spacewalk from a Crew Dragon spacecraft using spacesuits being developed by SpaceX.
Polaris Dawn is funded by billionaire Jared Isaacman, who led the Inspiration4 private mission in 2021.
The Crew Dragon on Polaris Dawn will fly an orbit that reaches altitudes of up to 1,400 km.
Polaris Dawn is scheduled to launch no earlier than April 2024.
When unveiled in February 2022, Polaris Dawn was scheduled to fly in the fourth quarter of 2022.
SpaceX is scheduled to launch up to three more crewed missions in 2023: NASA’s Crew-7, the Polaris Dawn private astronaut mission, and Axiom’s Ax-3 mission.
Polaris Dawn is scheduled to launch in summer 2023.