SpaceX's Polaris Dawn crew completes 1st commercial spacewalk in history

ISTANBUL

SpaceX's private crew of four astronauts made history on Thursday by performing the world's first commercial spacewalk on the third day of their five-day journey to Earth orbit.

"The Polaris Dawn spacewalk is now complete, marking the first time commercial astronauts have completed a spacewalk from a commercial spacecraft," SpaceX wrote on its X account.

The spacewalk took place as part of SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission.

SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 rocket from Florida on Tuesday, marking the first private spacewalk in human history. The crew included American billionaire Jared Isaacman, pilot Scott Kidd Poteet, and mission specialists Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon.

Isaacman and SpaceX engineer Gillis have become the first private astronauts to walk in space.

"SpaceX, back at home we have a lot of work to do, but from here it looks like a perfect world," Polaris Dawn commander Isaacman, the American billionaire who financed the mission, said as he looked down on Earth while standing mostly outside the Dragon hatch, according to Space.com.

Meanwhile, NASA chief Senator Bill Nelson congratulated SpaceX on completing the first commercial spacewalk, stating on X: "Today’s success represents a giant leap forward for the commercial space industry and NASA's long-term goal to build a vibrant U.S. space economy."

As part of the mission, which is centered on the spacewalk, the crew will also conduct scientific experiments.

Aside from Polaris Dawn, the first mission in SpaceX's Polaris program, two more missions are scheduled to launch in the near future.