The Polaris Dawn mission, aimed at achieving the first private spacewalk, is launched by SpaceX.

• The Polaris Dawn crew will attempt to perform the first-ever SpaceX spacewalk.
• Jared Isaacman, billionaire and founder of Shift4, bought the first of three missions from SpaceX.
• Due to unfavorable weather conditions and a helium leak, the launch had been repeatedly delayed for several weeks.

On Tuesday, the Falcon 9 rocket launched from Florida with the Dragon capsule "Resilience" on board, marking the start of SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission.

Jared Isaacman, founder of Shift4 and a billionaire, bought three missions from SpaceX in 2022 for his human spaceflight initiative, the Polaris Program.

The multi-day trip is not heading to a destination like the International Space Station, but instead is a free-flying mission that the crew hopes will trace orbits far from Earth.

The SpaceX crew will attempt to carry out the first-ever spacewalk as the main objective of their mission. EVAs are a routine part of government astronauts' missions, but no private venture has attempted an EVA before. The EVA is expected to last for two hours from start to finish.

Polaris Dawn intends to perform approximately 40 science and research experiments aside from the spacewalk during its mission.

Due to unfavorable weather conditions and a helium leak, the launch had been repeatedly delayed for several weeks.

Isaacman is currently commanding a mission with a crew of four, including the first two SpaceX employees, Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis, as they journey to space. This is Isaacman's second time in orbit, having previously led the historic Inspiration4 flight in 2021.

SpaceX's 14th crewed mission and fifth private human spaceflight is Polaris Dawn.