SpaceX canceled the Polaris Dawn spacewalk launch mission scheduled for August 27th in the evening of August 26th local time.

The mission was delayed due to a helium leak.

SpaceX postponed the rocket launch carrying four astronauts on the evening of August 26th local time. It was reported that SpaceX originally planned to launch the mission codenamed 'Polaris Dawn' using the Falcon 9 launch vehicle at NASA's Kennedy Space Center 39A launch pad in Florida, USA. The launch was originally scheduled for 3:38 am Eastern Time on August 27th.

Sarah Gillis, one of SpaceX's chief engineers, stated in a post on social media that the launch was initially scheduled for early Tuesday morning but was delayed due to the need to check for a helium leak on the ground side.

Musk made two consecutive statements on his social media, stating that everything is being triple-checked to ensure that the team cannot do anything else to improve the safety of the crew. He said, 'An outstanding team has put in incredible effort for this historic mission.' 'Let's make Starfleet Academy a reality!'

SpaceX stated that the next launch window will be no earlier than August 28th. The current plan is to launch at 3:38 am Eastern Time on Wednesday, August 28th, and send the "Polaris Dawn" rocket into low Earth orbit. Within a four-hour timeframe, there are two additional launch opportunities at 5:23 am and 7:09 am Eastern Time. If necessary, there is also a backup launch opportunity at the same time on Thursday, August 29th.

Billionaires participating

It is known that this mission, named Polaris Dawn, will be piloted by billionaire Jared Isaacman, who previously entered orbit with SpaceX in 2021 and provided funding for this flight and its development. Joining him on the flight are two SpaceX chief engineers - Sarah Gilles and Anna Mellon - as well as Isaacman's friend and former Air Force pilot, KIDD Porteet.

According to the previous plan, the milestone moment of this mission will occur on the third day of the flight, when Isaacman and Gilles plan to exit the crewed Dragon spacecraft through an open hatch and conduct spacewalks individually. Each walk will last approximately 15 to 20 minutes. While only Gilles and Isaacman will leave the spacecraft, all crew members will be wearing SpaceX's new spacesuits as the entire interior of the Dragon spacecraft will be exposed to the vacuum of space for operations. The entire process, from venting the spacecraft to resealing it, will take approximately two hours.

While the main focus of this mission is spacewalk, the Polaris Dawn mission also aims to achieve some secondary objectives and break some space records. The first stage of the flight will take the manned Dragon spacecraft to a height of 870 miles (1400 kilometers) from Earth, which is the farthest distance humans have flown into space since Apollo astronauts landed on the moon. If successful, Maezawa and Gillis will both become the record holders for the farthest distance traveled by women leaving Earth.

Due to the astronauts' longer flight distance, they will be exposed to a much higher radiation environment than most astronauts experience when traveling to the International Space Station in low Earth orbit. This will allow SpaceX to gather crucial research on how the space environment affects the human body.

At the same time, SpaceX plans to demonstrate its Starlink service during the flight. The "transmitter" installed inside the spacecraft will attempt to connect to the Starlink internet satellites to test the connectivity that future missions may use.

Musk has previously described this as an epic feat. He describes this mission as the "early pioneers of the interstellar era", and if this project progresses smoothly, hundreds of people could be sent to Earth orbit, the moon, and even Mars in the future with the help of related technologies.

Editor/Somer