The Polaris Dawn Mission Is Delayed Due to a Helium Leak

The Polaris Dawn mission will have to wait a little bit longer before it can get off the ground.

SpaceX, which is leading the launch, has delayed it at least 24 hours, Digital Trends reported on Tuesday. While the crew was supposed to take off at 3:38 a.m. ET on Tuesday, they are now aiming for the same time on Wednesday. The holdup is due to a helium leak that’s occurred on the ground.

“Teams are taking a closer look at a ground-side helium leak on the Quick Disconnect umbilical,” SpaceX said in a post on X. “Falcon and Dragon remain healthy and the crew continues to be ready for their multi-day mission to low-Earth orbit. Next launch opportunity is no earlier than Wednesday, August 28.”

The Polaris Dawn mission has been in the works for quite a while, with the program announced all the way back in February 2022. If all goes well, the four crew members, including billionaire Jared Isaacman, will be the first group of non-professional astronauts to carry out a commercial spacewalk. And SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule will fly farther than it’s ever gone before.

At one point, Polaris Dawn was scheduled for late July, but the mission was delayed because the crew needed special spacesuits to ensure their safety. Those were unveiled earlier this year, and they may eventually be used for future trips to the moon, according to Digital Trends.

While SpaceX is carrying out the logistics of Polaris Dawn, the mission is being funded and led by Isaacman, who has long been interested in space travel. After Polaris Dawn, he has plans for two other Polaris missions, eventually leading up to the crewed flight of SpaceX’s Starship rocket, Isaacman told Robb Report in July 2022.

“This vehicle is bigger and more powerful than the Saturn V rocket that put human beings on the moon a half century ago,” he said. “We will test-fly it, and if successful, Starship will be the vehicle that will return human beings to the moon and ultimately bring the first humans to Mars. Starship could someday be the 737 of human spaceflight.”

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Before that happens, of course, Polaris Dawn will have to be successful. Tomorrow, we might finally see if that’s the case.