:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-2171130090-e207190db92d4cfd9a589e66a0956511.jpg "SpaceX Completes Polaris Dawn Launch")
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Key Takeaways
- SpaceX completed the launch of its Polaris Dawn flight Tuesday morning, its latest crewed flight and the first of three in the Polaris program.
- The four astronauts on board will complete more than 30 experiments for more data on health in space, along with tests of Starlink communications equipment.
- They will also perform the world’s first commercial spacewalk, with suits designed by SpaceX.
SpaceX successfully completed its Polaris Dawn launch just after 5 a.m. ET Tuesday morning, with four astronauts headed to the highest orbit above Earth in decades.
After initially targeting a launch around 3 a.m., Elon Musk‘s space exploration company said unfavorable weather led it to push the time back, eventually lifting off at 5:23 a.m. ET.
Astronauts Aiming To Complete First Commercial Spacewalk
Dozens of experiments for data about human health in space and tests of Starlink equipment are set to be completed by the four astronauts during their orbit, which SpaceX says will last up to five days. They also are aiming to complete the world’s first spacewalk by commercial astronauts.
SpaceX says the spacewalk currently is targeted for Thursday just before 2:30 a.m. ET, with another opportunity available Friday at the same time. The company said a livestream of the launch will be viewable on X and its website about an hour before the spacewalk begins.
Space Capital wrote in a recent edition of its Space Investment Quarterly that investments in space exploration in the first half of 2024 totaled more than the entirety of investment in the industry in 2023. More deals in the industry were done in the second quarter than in any of the previous nine, it said.