Crewed SpaceX mission postponed after leak in ground equipment

The launch of SpaceX's four-person Polaris Dawn mission will be delayed by at least a day because of a helium leak in ground equipment at Kennedy Space Center, the company said on Tuesday, hours before the scheduled liftoff of its Crew Dragon capsule.

The highlight of the five-day mission is expected to come two days after launch, when the crew embarks on a 20-minute spacewalk 434 miles (700 km) from earth, in history's first such private spacewalk.

The company now aims to launch the spacecraft, carried by a Falcon 9 booster, at 3:38 a.m. (0738 GMT) on Wednesday, it said in a posting on X.

"Teams are taking a closer look at a ground-side helium leak," it added in Tuesday's post. "Falcon and Dragon remain healthy and the crew continues to be ready for their multi-day mission to low-Earth orbit."

Only government astronauts have performed spacewalks to date, most recently by occupants of the International Space Station, who regularly don spacesuits to perform maintenance and other checks of their orbital home.

Reuters