The Polaris Program is a planned human spaceflight program organized by businessman and commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman.[1] Isaacman, who commanded the first all-civilian spaceflight—Inspiration4—in September 2021, purchased flights from SpaceX in order to create the Polaris Program. The first two flights will use the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, while the third flight is planned to be the first crewed Starship flight.[1][2] Polaris Dawn, the first flight, will attempt the first private spacewalk.[3]
 | |
| Program overview | |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Organization | SpaceX |
| Status | Planned |
| Program history | |
| Duration | 2022–present |
| Launch site(s) |
|
| Vehicle information | |
| Crewed vehicle(s) | |
| Launch vehicle(s) | |
NASA and SpaceX signed in September 2022 with the Polaris program an unfunded Space Act Agreement to study the feasibility of a SpaceX and Polaris Program mission to boost the Hubble Space Telescope into a higher orbit with the Crew Dragon.[4][needs update]
Flights
| Mission Name | Launch Date | Launch Vehicle | Spacecraft | Orbit | Crew |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polaris Dawn (Mission I) | NET 31 July 2024 (planned) [5] | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Crew Dragon (C207.3 Resilience) ♺ | LEO, 1400 km max altitude[6] | |
| Mission II | TBA | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Crew Dragon | TBA |  Jared Isaacmanothers TBA |
| Mission III | TBA | Starship launch vehicle | Starship spacecraft | TBA | Jared Isaacman others TBA |
Polaris Dawn
Launching as soon as the Summer of 2024, Polaris Dawn will be launched from Earth to Low Earth Orbit reaching an apogee of approximately 1400 km (the highest Earth orbit ever flown by a crewed mission). It will involve the first ever private spacewalk and fly through portions of the Van Allen radiation belt. The mission will launch via a Falcon 9 Block 5 vehicle with a Crew Dragon capsule, involving research in the human health impact, radiation, and in-space communications.[5]
Polaris II
Launching at a date and with a crew yet to be announced, the second mission in the Polaris Program will launch via a Falcon 9 Block 5 vehicle with a Crew Dragon capsule, and could potentially lift the Hubble Space Telescope into a higher orbit to prevent it from burning up in the atmosphere.[7]
Polaris III
The third Polaris mission is set to be launched on Starship, SpaceX's next-generation launch system, "very far off in SpaceX’s future." Starship is in early flight testing as of April 2024 and is planned to carry crew only after Starship has made approximately 100 successful cargo flights.[8] This is to be the final flight of the Polaris Program.[1]