Isaacman launches Polaris Program: SpaceX partnership targets first crewed Starship flight

Jared Isaacman, the billionaire who commanded the first all-private Crew Dragon mission last September, announced on February 14 a new program of spaceflights designed to push the boundaries of commercial human spaceflight and ultimately put people aboard SpaceX's Starship vehicle. The Polaris Program, as he named it, represents a deliberate escalation: each mission will build capabilities that Isaacman and SpaceX believe are necessary for longer journeys and eventual missions to the moon and Mars.

Isaacman had already proven his appetite for spaceflight risk. His Inspiration4 mission in September 2021 reached an altitude of 585 kilometers and raised more than $240 million for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, including a $100 million personal contribution and a $50 million donation from Elon Musk. Now he was committing to something more ambitious. The first Polaris mission, called Polaris Dawn, is scheduled for no earlier than the fourth quarter of 2022 and will last up to five days. It will fly higher than any crewed Dragon mission before it—Isaacman said the team was "endeavoring to fly to the highest Earth orbit ever flown," a target that would exceed the 1,375-kilometer apogee reached by Gemini 11 in 1966.

The mission carries a technical milestone that distinguishes it from all previous commercial spaceflights: a spacewalk. This will be the first extravehicular activity conducted on a commercial mission. Because the Crew Dragon spacecraft has no airlock, all four crew members will need to wear pressure suits and depressurize the cabin together. SpaceX has developed modified versions of the suits worn by professional astronauts, and Isaacman described the suit development and the execution of the spacewalk as "important steps towards the scalable design for spacesuits for future long-duration missions." He offered few other details during a media call, declining to elaborate on suit designs or specific spacewalk procedures.

Isaacman will command Polaris Dawn. His crew includes Scott "Kidd" Poteet, a retired Air Force pilot who served as a ground director for Inspiration4; and two SpaceX employees, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, who will serve as mission specialists. Menon's husband, Anil Menon, is a former SpaceX flight surgeon who was selected by NASA in December as part of its latest astronaut class. Isaacman emphasized that the crew had been chosen for their expertise and their existing relationships built during Inspiration4. "We've selected a crew of experts who know each other well from our work together on Inspiration4 and have a foundation of trust that we can build upon," he said.

The Polaris Program extends beyond Polaris Dawn. A second Crew Dragon mission is planned, followed eventually by an orbital flight aboard Starship—the first time that vehicle will carry humans. Isaacman said he is interested in commanding that first crewed Starship mission, though he cautioned that many uncrewed launches would precede it, including flights for SpaceX's Starlink satellite constellation. "Long before we ever climb into Starship on the conclusion of the Polaris program, there's going to be tons of Starlink missions and, I'm sure, other cargo and payload missions first," he said.

Financing details remain opaque. Isaacman declined to disclose the cost of the Polaris Program, saying only that it is "fully funded" through contributions from both himself and SpaceX. He indicated that Polaris will also support St. Jude through a "global health initiative" that includes some use of SpaceX's Starlink satellite network for telemedicine, though he did not elaborate. Polaris Dawn itself will use Starlink's laser intersatellite links for communications during the mission.

The timeline for future Polaris missions remains uncertain, largely because Starship itself is still in development. The vehicle has not yet attempted an orbital flight. On the same day Isaacman made his announcement, the Federal Aviation Administration pushed back its deadline for completing an environmental review required for Starship's launch license, moving it from February 28 to March 28. That delay underscores the regulatory and technical hurdles that lie ahead before any human ever boards Starship. For now, Isaacman's focus is on getting Polaris Dawn right. "Let's get Polaris Dawn right and then we'll think about the next mission and, ultimately, someday, we'll see a Starship fly with humans on board," he said.