Historic Private Spacewalk: Polaris Dawn Pushes Boundaries of Commercial Spaceflight

A crew of four aboard a SpaceX capsule completed the first private spacewalk, led by billionaire Jared Isaacman. The mission tested new SpaceX spacesuits and procedures. It marks a significant step in commercial spaceflight. The crew trained extensively, and their journey sets a benchmark for future private space missions.

A crew of four aboard a SpaceX capsule embarked on the first-ever private spacewalk on Thursday. The historic mission, led by billionaire Jared Isaacman, saw an astronaut step out of the Crew Dragon spacecraft into the vacuum of space, hundreds of miles from Earth.

Isaacman exited first at 6:52 a.m. ET, with SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis scheduled to follow. Their maneuvers were streamed live on SpaceX's website. Upon emerging from the spacecraft, Isaacman remarked, "Earth sure looks like a perfect world."

The spacewalk tested new spacesuit designs and procedures for the Crew Dragon capsule. It is the latest attempt by Elon Musk's SpaceX to push the boundaries of commercial spaceflight.

(With inputs from agencies.)