Jared Isaacman, the first man to purchase a private SpaceX flight, has bought another three. Isaacman led the first all-private-civilian Inspiration4 mission back in September 2021.
The three missions are part of the new Polaris Program set up by Isaacman, which has a goal to advance “human space exploration while helping to solve problems through the use of innovative technology here on Earth.”
The first mission in the Polaris Program is Polaris Dawn, set to launch in the fourth quarter of 2022.
The mission will see a four-person crew, led by Isaacman, use a Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft to reach orbit.
The Polaris Dawn mission crew includes:
- Jared Isaacman – Commander
- Scott Poteet – Pilot
- Anna Menon – Medical Officer
- Sarah Gillis – Mission Specialist
The Polaris Dawn will spend up to five days in orbit and also aims to complete the first commercial spacewalk.
In addition, the mission will include testing Starlink communication in space and conducting scientific research on behalf of human health.
This mission also represents the potential start of SpaceX’s astronaut corps. Two of the four crew are SpaceX employees whom you may recognize from the Inspiriation4 Netflix documentary.
Sarah Gillis oversees the astronaut-training program at SpaceX. At the same time, Anna Menon manages the development of its crew operations.
The third flight of the Polaris Program is slated to use SpaceX’s Starship rocket and spacecraft.
SpaceX or Isaacman did not disclose the financial terms of the agreement.
