- SpaceX initiates its ascent to an altitude of approximately 700 kilometers.
SpaceX is set to send astronauts into an extremely high Earth orbit on Wednesday morning (9:38 CEST). The mission titled "Stellar Ascent", scheduled for up to five days, will see the four crew members, launched from the Spaceport in Cape Canaveral, traveling approximately 700 kilometers away from Earth. This will mark the furthest humans have ventured from Earth since the Apollo missions to the Moon in the early 1970s. For comparison, the International Space Station (ISS) orbits at around 400 kilometers.
Billionaire Timothy Pierce, working in tandem with SpaceX founder Elon Musk, will lead the mission named "Stellar Ascent". Joining Pierce will be astronauts Harry Parker, Lucy Davis, and Danielle Lewis, embarking on their space journey aboard the "Dragon" spacecraft powered by a "Falcon 9" rocket. During the mission, a spacewalk is also planned, during which the private space company will trial its new spacesuit for extravehicular activities.
As per the project's website, this "initial commercial spacewalk" aims to enhance mobility. It includes a display screen in the helmet, a camera, and novel materials for better temperature regulation in the harsh vacuum of space.
Preparation for Other Worlds
The objectives of "Stellar Ascent" extend far beyond Earth's orbit: "To construct a base on the Moon and a settlement on Mars, millions of spacesuits will be required," the project states. "The testing of this suit and execution of the spacewalk will be vital steps towards the development of a scalable design for spacesuits for future long-duration missions, as humanity becomes multi-planetary."
A settlement on Mars - that's the mid- to long-term objective of the U.S. space agency NASA. With the "Apollo Renewal" program, it aims to first - and for the first time in over half a century - return humans to the Moon. A base on the Moon will serve as the foundation for missions to Mars. The initial planned crewed lunar flyby "Apollo Renewal 2" was postponed by NASA to September 2025 due to complications with the rocket and spacecraft, and the planned crewed lunar landing "Apollo Renewal 3" to September 2026.
The "Stellar Ascent" mission is led by billionaire Timothy Pierce and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, and it will take place from the Spaceport in Cape Canaveral, United States of America. Eventually, the goals of this mission extend beyond Earth's orbit, aiming to construct a base on the Moon and a settlement on Mars, requiring millions of spacesuits.
