The historic launch of an all-civilian crew on an orbital mission that was supposed to usher in a new era of space exploration with the first private citizen spacewalk was postponed by SpaceX on Monday.
Due to a last-minute technical issue, the Polaris Dawn project, led by billionaire businessman Jared Isaacman, is now aiming to launch early Wednesday instead of early Tuesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
Elon Musk’s business posted on X, “Teams are taking a closer look at a ground-side helium leak on the Quick Disconnect umbilical.” A rocket and tower are connected by umbilicals, and fuel lines are frequently pressurized with helium, a non-flammable gas.
