Polaris Dawn successfully launched on a historic mission featuring the first civilian EVA [Update]

Update: The launch was successful and the crew is in its intended orbit, ready to continue its planned flight trajectory. Due to bad weather, the launch was initially moved from 3:38 a.m. to 5:23 a.m. ET.

You can re-watch the action on the official webcast below, and you can also track the position of Polaris Dawn crew in real-time on SpaceX's website.

Originally published article continues below:

This morning, SpaceX is officially kicking off the Polaris program backed by billionaire, philanthropist, and jet pilot Jared Isaacman, the CEO of Shift4 and Draken International. Its inaugural mission, Polaris Dawn, is about to launch at 3:38 a.m. ET from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where Apollo flights took place.

This is given the weather allows the mission to start. Currently, the weather is only 40% favorable; however, SpaceX has two more launch opportunities today within the four-hour launch window. At 5:23 a.m. and 7:09 a.m. ET.

Polaris Dawn embarks on a five-day record-breaking journey. Just hours after the take-off, Isaacman and three other crew members—including his friend Scott Poteet and SpaceX employees Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis—will begin a pre-breathing protocol to minimize the risk of decompression sickness during the planned first-civilian spacewalk (or EVA) on Day 3.

Firstly, on Day 1, the Crew Dragon capsule will reach an altitude of 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) – the highest Earth orbit in history (surpassing Gemini 11) and the farthest any crew flew since the Apollo program.

On Day 2, Crew Dragon will lower its orbit to a cruising altitude of 750 kilometers (470 miles) where the EVA will occur. Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis will take turns and spend 15 to 20 minutes in the open space.

The Crew Dragon doesn’t have an airlock. That means the whole capsule has to be depressurized and even though only two civilian astronauts will leave the module, all four members will experience the vacuum environment at the same time—another historic moment.

Although the mission is led by a wealthy entrepreneur, science is a big part of Polaris Dawn. The crew will conduct 36 research studies and experiments from 31 partner institutions designed to advance both human health on Earth and during long-duration spaceflight. Additionally, it will also test Starlink laser-based communications in space.

After the crew completes its mission, the Crew Dragon capsule will lower its orbit, reenter the atmosphere, and splash down in the ocean—similar to routine flights to and from the ISS.