The spacewalk, which promises to be spectacular, was to be broadcast live on the third day of the mission.
A first in space. The liftoff of SpaceX’s rocket for a groundbreaking space mission including the first private spacewalk in history, Polaris Dawn, is set to take place this Friday after being postponed last week, US authorities announced on Tuesday. A four-hour launch window is set to open at 3:33 a.m. (0733 GMT) Friday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with other possibilities on Saturday and Sunday, according to the US civil aviation regulator (FAA).
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has yet to comment on the new launch window. The Polaris Dawn mission, which includes a billionaire, a pilot and two female employees, was already delayed by 24 hours after a “helium leak” on a link powering the rocket. It was then postponed again on Friday “due to unfavorable weather forecast”according to SpaceX.
Billionaire Jared Isaacman, commander of the mission
The commander of this five-day mission is American billionaire Jared Isaacman, who has been working with Elon Musk’s company for several years. The trip is intended to test SpaceX’s very first spacesuits, which are white and have a futuristic look.
The spacewalk, which promises to be spectacular, was to be broadcast live on the third day of the mission. In other good news for SpaceX after a complicated week, its Falcon 9 rockets, the most used by the company, were authorized to take off Friday by the FAA after a rare incident that led to them being grounded.