SpaceX makes history with first spacewalks by private citizens

A pioneering private crew made history Thursday by becoming the first civilians to perform spacewalks, marking a giant leap forward for the commercial space industry.

The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission, led by fintech billionaire Jared Isaacman, launched early Tuesday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, journeying deeper into the cosmos than any humans in the past 50 years since the Apollo program.

Then, with the four-member crew's Dragon spacecraft lowered to an orbit with a high of 430 miles, pure oxygen began flowing into their suits, marking the official start of their extravehicular activity (EVA) at 1012 GMT on Thursday.

A short time later, Isaacman unlatched the hatch and climbed through, gripping a structure known as "Skywalker," outfitted with hand and footholds, as a breathtaking view of Earth unfolded below him.

"It's gorgeous," he told mission control in Hawthorne, California, where teams cheered on important checkpoints.

It was yet another major milestone for SpaceX, the company founded by Elon Musk in 2002. Initially dismissed by traditionalists, it has since grown into a powerhouse that has reshaped the space industry.

In 2020, it beat aerospace giant Boeing in delivering a safe crewed spaceship to provide rides for NASA astronauts to the International Space Station.

Today, it launches more rockets than any competitor, and its Starlink satellite constellation provides internet service to dozens of countries.

AFP