The Polaris Dawn mission made history on 12 September 2024 as the first commercial spacewalk — commander Jared Isaacman and mission specialist Sarah Gillis tested SpaceX's new EVA suit during a cabin depressurisation at approximately 700 km altitude aboard Crew Dragon "Resilience".
Polaris Dawn was the first mission of the Polaris programme, a series of three crewed spaceflights funded by billionaire Jared Isaacman in partnership with SpaceX. Launched on 10 September 2024 aboard a Falcon 9 from Kennedy Space Center, the mission achieved several historic firsts:
The mission reached an apogee of 1,400.7 km — the highest any human had been since Apollo 17 in 1972, and the highest altitude ever reached by a Crew Dragon spacecraft. At this altitude, the crew passed through the inner Van Allen radiation belt, providing valuable data on radiation exposure in the SpaceX EVA suit.
The mission's centrepiece was the first commercial spacewalk on 12 September 2024. Commander Isaacman and mission specialist Sarah Gillis took turns exiting Dragon through the forward hatch using the "Skywalker" EVA support structure, while the entire crew wore SpaceX EVA suits as the cabin was depressurised to vacuum.
Additional mission objectives included testing Starlink laser inter-satellite link communications with Dragon, conducting 36 scientific experiments related to human health in radiation environments, and raising funds for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.