SpaceX will launch four people into space on its Polaris Dawn mission this week, and if you want to watch the launch live, you’ll need to know when and where to watch it. In that case, it might help to be an early riser.
Polaris Dawn, a commercial spaceflight backed by American billionaire Jared Isaacman that will attempt the first private spacewalk, is currently scheduled to launch in 2016. Tuesday, August 27Aboard a Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon Resilience capsule. The launch is scheduled for October 20. 3:38 AM EST (0738 GMT) From Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Here’s a look at when Polaris Dawn will fly, how to watch live online, who will be on board and how long the mission will last.
When is the SpaceX Polaris Dawn launch date?
SpaceX is currently targeting 3:38 AM ET (0738 GMT) Tuesday SpaceX has announced that it will launch the Polaris Dawn mission, but it has a four-hour window to fly. But that doesn’t mean the launch can happen anytime between 3:38 a.m. EST and 7:38 a.m. EST (1138 GMT). Instead, SpaceX now says it has two additional times within that window to launch. Those times are: 5:23 AM EST (0923 GMT) and 7:09 AM EST (1109 GMT)The company wrote in Mission Overview.
The Polaris Dawn spacecraft will lift off from SpaceX’s launch pad at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. SpaceX has at least two launch opportunities during the four-hour window, The company said.
SpaceX launched its Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket onto the pad on Saturday (Aug. 24), and performed a static firing of the Falcon 9’s first-stage engines the following day. Meanwhile, the Polaris Dawn crew conducted a formal rehearsal for launch day on Aug. 25.
Can I watch the SpaceX Polaris Dawn launch online?
Yes, you can watch the SpaceX Polaris Dawn launch live online. SpaceX will provide a live stream online. On his X channel (formerly Twitter), starts approximately 3.5 hours before takeoff.
As SpaceX has set a launch date for 3:38 AM ESTThe live stream should start shortly. 12 AM EST (0400 GMT)You can also watch the live stream at the top of this page, as well as on Space.com YouTube Channelwhich will broadcast the launch at the same time.
Who will fly on SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission?
SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission will launch four private astronauts into space on a commercial flight funded by billionaire Jared Isaacman, who previously flew into orbit with SpaceX on the Inspiration 4 mission in 2021. Here’s a look at who will join him on the mission. For more on the astronauts, check out our story on meeting the Polaris Dawn crew.
- Jared Isaacman: Isaacman is the funder of Polaris Dawn and serves as the mission commander. The entrepreneur made his fortune as the founder and CEO of Shift4Payments, a payment processing company. After Inspiration4, Isaacman purchased three more flights from SpaceX under his Polaris program. Polaris Dawn was the first of those. He has logged more than 6,000 hours of flight time in high-performance aircraft.
- Scott “Kid” Poteet: Poteet is a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel and is serving as the pilot for the Polaris Dawn mission. Polaris Dawn will be his first flight into space. He has logged more than 3,200 hours of jet flight time and spent 20 years in the Air Force. He previously served as director of business development at Draken International (a company Isaacman once owned), vice president of strategy at Shift4 and was mission director for Inspiration4.
- Sarah Gillies: Gillis is a mission specialist on the Polaris Dawn spacecraft and SpaceX’s lead space operations engineer responsible for astronaut training. She was the mission instructor for Isaacman’s Inspiration 4 flight. Gillis joined SpaceX as an intern in 2015 and studied aerospace engineering and dance at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
- Anna Menon: Menon is a mission specialist and chief medical officer for the Polaris Dawn crew. She is also a lead operations engineer at SpaceX for crew operations development, and served as a flight controller for the company’s Demo 2 and Crew 1 flights. Prior to joining SpaceX, Menon was a biomedical flight controller for the International Space Station, worked with Engineers Without Borders, and is a private pilot. In addition to her duties on Polaris Dawn, Menon has also written a children’s book titledkisses from spaceWith Keri Vesack, who will read from space. Proceeds from the book will help support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
How long is SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission?
From liftoff to landing of the Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn spacecraft is expected to take about 8.5 minutes to launch, but the actual flight will take much longer.
Isaacman and his crew plan to spend at least five days in orbit during their private spaceflight. During that time, the crew will break the record for the longest spaceflight by a female astronaut and fly the longest human spaceflight since the Apollo era.
Isaacman and his crew will also attempt their first private spacewalk on day three of the flight, test a new Starlink orbital communications link on day four of the flight and conduct nearly 40 experiments while in orbit. Among the key experiments will be testing and demonstrating SpaceX’s new spacewalk suits.
| Time (hour:minute:second) | It happened | Head Cell – Column 2 |
|---|---|---|
| T-00:45:00 | SpaceX Launch Director Heads for Refueling | Row 0 – Cell 2 |
| T-00:42:00 | Retractable crew access arm | Row 1 – Cell 2 |
| T-00:39:00 | Armed Dragon Launch Escape System | Row 2 – Cell 2 |
| T-00:35:00 | RP-1 fuel loading begins | Row 3 – Cell 2 |
| T-00:35:00 | The first stage of liquid oxygen (LOX) loading begins. | Row 4 – Cell 2 |
| T-00:16:00 | Starting the second phase of LOX download | Grade 5 – Cell 2 |
| T-00:07:00 | Falcon 9 engine cooling process begins | Grade 6 – Cell 2 |
| T-00:5:00 | Dragon on inner strength | Grade 7 – Cell 2 |
| T-00:01:00 | Pre-launch checks of the flight computer | Row 8 – Cell 2 |
| T-00:01:00 | Fuel tanks at flight pressure | Row 9 – Cell 2 |
| T-00:00:45 | Launch Director gives the go-ahead for launch. | Row 10 – Cell 2 |
| T-00:00:03 | Start ignition sequence | Row 11 – Cell 2 |
| T-00:00:00 | Falcon 9 liftoff! | Row 12 – Cell 2 |
| T+00:00:58 | Max Q | Row 13 – Cell 2 |
| T+00:02:26 | First stage of main engine cutting | Row 14 – Cell 2 |
| T+00:02:29 | Stage separation | Row 15 – Cell 2 |
| T+00:02:37 | Second stage of engine start | Row 16 – Cell 2 |
| T+00:02:43 | The first stage of the enhanced fuel burn begins. | Row 17 – Cell 2 |
| T+00:03:30 | The first stage of the rear boost burn ends. | Row 18 – Cell 2 |
| T+00:06:16 | Start burning the first stage entry | Row 19 – Cell 2 |
| T+00:06:27 | End of burning the first stage entry | Row 20 – Cell 2 |
| T+00:07:21 | Burning landing in the first stage | Row 21 – Cell 2 |
| T+00:07:38 | First stage landing | Row 22 – Cell 2 |
| T+00:08:49 | Second stage of engine cutting | Row 23 – Cell 2 |
| T+00:11:55 | Dragon Chapter | Row 24 – Cell 2 |
| T+00:12:43 | dragon nostrils | Row 25 – Cell 2 |
What if SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission doesn’t launch on schedule?
While SpaceX is targeting a Polaris Dawn launch at 3:38 a.m. EST on August 27, the company could delay or cancel the mission due to technical or weather issues. As such, the company has a backup launch window, scheduled for the same time of day.
If there’s a problem that prevents Polaris Dawn from launching on August 27, SpaceX may try again. On August 28 at 3:38 AM ESTAs with the August 27 attempt, SpaceX will have a four-hour window to launch the mission, with two opportunities to fly during that window, and potentially again on the same day. 5:23 AM EST and 7:09 AM EST.
In fact, SpaceX has already pushed back the launch by a day. The launch was originally scheduled for Monday, August 26, but SpaceX pushed back the flight by 24 hours to allow time for additional checks on the rocket.
You can watch the SpaceX Polaris Dawn launch live on Space.com on launch day, thanks to SpaceX’s X-ray live stream, starting at around 12 a.m. ET (0400 GMT).
Editor’s Note: This story was updated on Aug. 26 at 9:30 a.m. ET with updated target launch times during SpaceX’s four-hour Polaris Dawn launch window.
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