World’s First Commercial Spacewalk
Written by: Juliana Cipolla
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SpaceX’s privately funded Polaris Dawn mission made history with the world’s first commercial spacewalk and first private space flight, taking a major stride in commercializing space capabilities. The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission is the first time in history that a private mission attempted a spacewalk.

The mission was completed by private-citizen astronauts, who took on considerable risk while pushing boundaries. The astronauts were wearing SpaceX developed suits. Once the oxygen began flowing in the suits, the capsule became entirely depressurized before the entire crew was exposed to the vacuum of space. The astronauts exited the vehicle for roughly ten minutes each, carrying out a series of tests to understand the functionality of their extravehicular suits, before retreating inside the spacecraft.

Prior to this spacewalk, spacewalks have only been conducted by government astronauts working on missions set up by national space agencies. Further, this private flight reached the highest altitude humans have reached in space since the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Apollo program. The mission also marked the first women to ever fly so far from Earth in space!

The team safely returned to Earth, landing in the Atlantic near Florida, on Sunday, September 15, 2024, capping a history making mission.

As technology continues to push new frontiers, The Beckage Firm is committed to guiding clients through the unique legal challenges emerging from these advancements.