US: Helium Leak Postpones Elon Musk-Led SpaceX's Polaris Dawn Mission Featuring 1st Commercial Spacewalk; Reattempt Set For August 28

Florida: Elon Musk-owned SpaceX has postponed till Wednesday the liftoff of its historic 'Polaris Dawn' mission, which will include the first spacewalk carried out by a civilian crew.

A helium leak has forced a delay of at least 24 hours of the capsule carrying four civilian astronoauts that was scheduled for launch early August 27 morning from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, the company said in a social media post on X on August 26.

"Teams are taking a closer look at a ground-side helium leak on the Quick Disconnect umbilical. Falcon and Dragon remain healthy and the crew continues to be ready for their multi-day mission to low-Earth orbit. Next launch opportunity is no earlier than Wednesday, August 28," SpaceX tweeted.

About The Polaris Dawn Mission

Polaris Dawn is the first of three planned missions in the Polaris Program, a human-spaceflight project funded and organized by billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman. It features a spacewalk that has till now only been attempted by government astronauts.

Issacman will command Polaris Dawn and will be joined aboard the mission's Crew Dragon capsule by three crewmates- pilot Scott "Kidd" Poteet, a former lieutenant colonel in the US Air Force, and mission specialists Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, both of whom are SpaceX engineers. The mission is set to last about 5 days once launched into an oval-shaped orbit that extends as high as 870 miles (1,400 kilometers) from Earth.

Anna Menon has an Indian connection as she is married to Anil Menon a surgeon and Lieutenant Colonel in the US Air Force who previoulsy served as SpaceX's first flight surgeon, helping to launch its first humans into space during the Demo-2 mission. Born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Ukrainian and Indian immigrants, Anil Menon is currently a NASA astronaut in training.

Elon Musk Reacts To The Postponement

Following the postponement, Musk wrote on X, "An incredible amount of work has gone into this historic mission by an amazing team. We are triple-checking everything to make sure there is nothing more we can do to improve crew safety."

Issacman also took to X to post, "We are grateful to all our friends, family, and supporters who have come out to @NASAKennedy for the launch. The best aerospace engineers in the world are working on the issue, and we promise to put on a great show soon enough!"

Isaacman previoulsy self-funded a mission to orbit Earth in 2021. He was on board the 'Inspiration4' human spaceflight operated by SpaceX.

Anna Menon took to the social media platform to say she always appreciated SpaceX's "diligence and commitment to not fly until we are ready. We will try again tomorrow!"

A Huge Milestone In Human Spaceflight

Once the Polaris Dawn is launched Isaacman and Gillis will conduct a spacewalk on Day 3 of the mission.

Marking a huge milestone in human spaceflight, Polaris Dawn will see humans travel the farthest away from Earth, aiming to get a maximum of 1,400 kilometres from Earth, the farthest that any crewed mission since Apollo 17 in 1972.

The astronauts will be donning brand-new Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) suits designed which SpaceX said it designed and developed in just two and a half years.

Meanwhile, the third Polaris flight will be the first-ever crewed mission of Starship, the vehicle that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX is developing to help humanity settle on the moon and Mars.

Since 2020, SpaceX has been ferrying NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station.