Billionaire Jared Isaacman to Make History as First Private Citizen to Spacewalk

Billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman is poised to join an elite group of individuals who have walked in space, becoming the first private citizen to perform this remarkable feat. The 38-year-old founder of Shift4 Payments will command a crew of four aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket on a mission named Polaris Dawn, with the launch scheduled no earlier than August 26 from Florida.

Isaacman, an experienced pilot with over 7,000 hours of flight time in fighter jets, will lead the team, which includes mission pilot Scott Poteet, mission specialist Sarah Gillis, and mission specialist and medical officer Anna Menon. The mission will feature the first-ever commercial spacewalk, during which the crew will remain tethered to the spacecraft and receive oxygen through a hose.

Isaacman, who boasts a net worth of $2 billion, founded Shift4 Payments in 1999 and currently retains a 38% stake in the company. In addition to his Entertainment accomplishments, he is an advanced-rated pilot and a world-record holder for speed-around-the-world flights. Isaacman also served as the mission commander for Inspiration4, a SpaceX mission that raised over $200 million for charity. He is a co-founder of Draken International, the largest and fastest-growing private air force in the world.

The Polaris Dawn mission will take SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft to the highest Earth orbit achieved to date, venturing into the Van Allen radiation belts. The mission aims to study the effects of spaceflight and radiation on human health, test SpaceX's laser-based Starlink communication system in orbit, and evaluate next-generation EVA spacesuits designed for future missions to the Moon and Mars.

Polaris Dawn represents a significant milestone in commercial space exploration, pushing the boundaries of what private spaceflight can achieve and paving the way for humanity's deeper exploration of the cosmos.