US billionaire Jared Isaacman has achieved a historic milestone by completing the first-ever civilian spacewalk during the Polaris Dawn mission.
The CEO of a payment processing company paid millions to participate in the SpaceX mission, marking a significant advancement in commercial space exploration.
Isaacman was accompanied on this groundbreaking mission by retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Scott Poteet, and SpaceX employees Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon.
Isaacman became the first civilian to orbit the Earth at an altitude of 435 miles. Following his spacewalk, Gillis performed a spacewalk of her own.
The Polaris Dawn mission set a new record for the highest Earth orbit ever achieved, with Gillis and Menon becoming the first women to travel to such extreme altitudes.
This mission represents the farthest humans have traveled since the end of NASA’s Apollo program in 1972.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson praised SpaceX and the Polaris Program for their pioneering efforts in conducting the first commercial spacewalks.
In 2021, Isaacman also funded the Inspiration4 flight with SpaceX. This achievement follows earlier space tourism milestones by billionaire Richard Branson with Virgin Galactic Unity 22 and Jeff Bezos with Blue Origin NS-16.