SpaceX launches all-civilian crew for first private spacewalk
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00:00It's set to be one small step for man, and a potentially giant leap for SpaceX.
00:07The Polaris Dawn mission blasted into space on Tuesday, with a crew of private astronauts
00:11hoping to undertake the first ever commercial spacewalk.
00:15Two minutes into flight, everything continues to look good.
00:18Funded by billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman in collaboration with SpaceX, the mission
00:23aims to test the limits of what space tourism can look like, by attempting to take civilians
00:28further into space than ever before, reaching a peak altitude of 1,400 kilometres.
00:34This would make it the furthest distance humans have travelled from Earth since NASA's Apollo
00:38Moon mission over 50 years ago.
00:43Once there, Isaacman plans to fully exit the craft, using a series of rails.
00:48In the space tourism market, SpaceX is the largest commercial company, valued at US $180
00:54billion.
00:56After the launch on Tuesday, it said SpaceX was founded to make life multi-planetary.
01:02The company's profits often come from launching Starlink satellites into space, and from transporting
01:07supplies to the International Space Station.
01:09Similarly, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin makes funds through contracts with NASA, and from selling
01:15rocket engines, making them significant players in boosting the US public sector's space exploration
01:21capabilities.
01:23Since 2020, 69 private astronauts have gone to space.
01:27While only the uber-rich can afford such journeys today, the sector anticipates costs will go
01:32down.
01:33In 2023, the space tourism market was worth US $750 million.
01:38That number is projected to rise to over $5 billion in the next decade.