Polaris Dawn Mission Delayed Again; Launch Now NET April 2024

The first flight of the Polaris Program, led by Billionaire Entrepreneur and Astronaut Jared Isaacman is now scheduled for no earlier than April 2024, a delay of nearly a year and a half from its original plan of launching Q4 2022.

Isaacman, who will command the inaugural Polaris mission, shared an update via X. “April is the goal to launch & the pace of training is accelerating,”

The day of the uppdate Isaacman was at SpaceX for testing of extravehicular activity (EVA) spacesuits, a crucial component for the upcoming spacewalk during the Polaris Dawn mission.

The spacewalk presents a formidable challenge for the Polaris Dawn mission, requiring the development of a new specialized SpaceX EVA suit and modifications to the Crew Dragon spacecraft. The new EVA suits have been designed from the ground up to insure they will be able to endure the vacuum of space.

The absence of an airlock on Crew Dragon also introduced a requirment to alter Crew Dragon's software and hardware to facilitate the depressurization of the cabin before the spacewalk and its subsequent repressurization will possible.

Additional hurdles include the demonstration of intersatellite laser communications links between the Crew Dragon spacecraft and SpaceX's Starlink constellation.

The Polaris Dawn mission will also involve testing electronics in the heightened radiation environment expected at altitudes of up to 1,400 kilometers, bringing the spacecraft close to the inner edge of the Van Allen Belt.

The Polaris program has faced persistent delays since Isaacman initially unveiled the project in February 2022, five months after his command of the Inspiration4 private astronaut mission on a Crew Dragon. 

Despite the delays, Jared Isaacman remains resilient in the face of challenges, characterizing the Polaris Program as a development effort with ambitious objectives. He acknowledged the inevitability of schedule slips, underscoring the complexities involved in achieving the program's goals.

The development of the new SpaceX EVA suit and upgrades to Crew Dragon are not the only aspect affecting the schedule; the Polaris Dawn mission has to fit into SpaceX's busy 2024 schedule. With SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station being upgraded with a Crew/Cargo access tower, SpaceX will be not restricted to only one lanch pad for crew launches which currecnly is restrcited to LC-39A at NASA Kennedy Space Center;  the same pad they require for Falcon Heavy.

The Polaris Program's website has not provided a formal update since May, leaving social media and public comments as the primary sources of information on the program's progress.