SpaceX launches rocket with civilian crew for first-ever private spacewalk

NEWS WIRES

10 September 2024 at 8:05 am·1-min read

After more than two years of training for the landmark mission, four citizens including billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman were launched into orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida on Tuesday. If all goes as planned, it will be the first time non-professional astronauts conduct a spacewalk.

A daredevil billionaire rocketed back into orbit Tuesday, aiming to perform the first private spacewalk and venture farther than anyone since NASA's Apollo moonshots.

Unlike his previous chartered flight, tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman shared the cost with SpaceX this time around, which included developing and testing brand new spacesuits to see how they'll hold up in the harsh vacuum.

If all goes as planned, it will be the first time private citizens conduct a spacewalk, but they won’t venture away from the capsule. Considered one of the riskiest parts of spaceflight, spacewalks have been the sole realm of professional astronauts since the former Soviet Union popped open the hatch in 1965, closely followed by the US. Today, they are routinely done at the International Space Station.

But first the passengers are shooting for way beyond the International Space Station – an altitude of 870 miles (1,400 kilometres), which would surpass the Earth-lapping record set during NASA’s Project Gemini in 1966. Only the 24 Apollo astronauts who flew to the moon have ventured farther.

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