Civilian SpaceX Polaris launch delayed by helium leak

A helium leak in a SpaceX capsule has delayed the Polaris Dawn mission until Wednesday at the earliest, the company announced Monday night.

The launch was expected to take place on Tuesday morning from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The flight will now take place early on Wednesday morning, or early Thursday if necessary. 

The civilian flight will include billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Scott “Kidd” Poteet and SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon. The flight is expected to include the first spacewalk done by a fully civilian crew.

"Teams are taking a closer look at a ground-side helium leak on the Quick Disconnect umbilical," SpaceX wrote in a post to X. "Falcon and Dragon remain healthy and the crew continues to be ready for their multi-day mission to low-Earth orbit."

The spacewalk is scheduled for the third day of the flight, and two crew members are expected to leave the capsule connected to a tether.

The flight will take the astronauts up 870 miles above Earth’s surface, which will make the Crew Dragon capsule pass through the inner regions of the Van Allen radiation belt, according to NBC News.

Part of the crew's mission is to record the effects of space radiation on the astronauts and the vehicle, which could help scientists plan missions to the moon and Mars. In order to fly to both locations, astronauts would need to fly through the inner and outer Van Allen radiation belts.

The Polaris Dawn mission is one of three flights that Isaacman is planning and funding with SpaceX, but the other two missions have not been scheduled so far. 

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just the News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.